Tim Harlow

Lost Kids are Found - What a Mother's Day!

We've all been mesmerized by this story from Cleveland. There are too many questions to ever understand. How these girls could be hidden for that long – that close?  Why they couldn't get away? Why no one figured it out? How this guy could be so messed up – just too many questions.

For now, we rejoice and we pray for them.

But what a Mother’s Day reunion! To me, it’s the story of moms who never gave up.

Honestly, it’s a spiritual story I see often. I can’t tell you how many mothers I’ve seen never give up on their children who are being held captive spiritually by the Father of Lies.  The real Deceiver.

There is nothing more rewarding for me as a Pastor than to be standing in the baptistery with a person whose parents are watching. It’s great when they are young, but it’s really fun when they are older. It’s a look much like the Cleveland families must have had - relief and joy at the end of a long period of faith-filled prayer.

Please don’t ever give up on your kids! By all means, be the parent if they still live at home. Crack down if you need to. But if they are wandering in some desert land at the moment or making choices you don’t like, there is always hope. 

Everyone has to make their own choices. Sometimes there is nothing you can do but pray. But have faith and keep praying, keep putting up posters, and offering rewards and doing whatever you have to do to make sure that your kids know they aren’t forgotten.

And pray.

Mark Batterson – in his excellent book “The Circle Maker” says we should 'Pray Through'. “Praying through won’t take no for an answer. It’s always too soon to quit praying, because you never know when the wall is about to fall. You are always only one prayer away from a miracle.”

And someday – you will be able to say with John -

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4)

Happy Mother’s Day, to my mom, my wife and all the other amazing mothers out there who never gave up.

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Timothy 1:5)

Grace, therefore Peace.

Tim

Boston Reminds Us That We Should All Be Ready

It's hard to keep seeing the images from Boston over and over. I still can't believe it, as many times as I've seen it. I get tired of tragedy. I know you do too. The 'Why' questions will never get full answers on this earth.

I was interviewed on a Christian radio station and my friend Johnny asked me, “How do you tell people to pray during these times?”  If tragedy directly affects us, our prayers come from such a deep place that we just cry out.  If it’s a tragedy somewhere else, we just ask God to comfort them and we always know that God promised that the Holy Spirit would speak for us.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  (Romans 8:26 NLT)

However, as I said in the interview, my concern through tragedy like Boston is not about how to pray.  It’s about how to live. 

It seems to me that every time something like this happens, it shocks the collective system of the world into the reality that we are all mortal. It reminds us that those images could be us, at any moment.  Whether it’s an act of terror, or an accident, a disease, or the end of times – one day we are all done with this body.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  (I Corinthians 15:42-44)

Every time there is a terrible reminder of our mortality – like this in Boston – there is an awakening to the limits of the natural; and a renewed interest in the supernatural. 

As there should be!

Jesus told us plainly:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come… So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:36-39, 42-44)

Christians are supposed to live in a state of readiness. I’m doing a series called “Doomsday Preppers” – Orland Park Campus  Lockport Campus – in a few weeks which might help. But the truth is, I don’t know what “living in readiness” looks like for you.  You and God need to have a conversation about that.

Have you accepted the gift of grace from Jesus? Have you followed him in Baptism? Are you using your talents, gifts, and resources for the Kingdom? Is your family ready? 

I’m not talking about being saved by doing the right things. I’m not talking about the way many grew up - thinking that if you died on a bad day when you forgot to ask God for forgiveness - you were going to hell. This isn’t about “works.” We are saved by grace. 

It’s just a question we all need to answer – “Am I ready to leave this earth?” 

Grace, therefore Peace.

Tim

 

 

"Mental Illness Sucks, Grace is Good, and People are Crazy." A Song for Rick and Kay Warren

I've blogged about my admiration for Rick before.  Both from the large influence over churches like ours with his books, sermons and 40-day campaigns (they call him America's Pastor) to the smaller level of personal interaction I've witnessed as he sat on a bench for three days and loved on everyone who wanted a hug.

I was sitting in communion at the 11:00 service on Easter Sunday after having finished my 8^th time preaching that sermon, mustering up the strength to do one more – when I got a text that said, “I’m praying for you and your services - I believe in you Rick Warren."

I don’t want to try to give you a false impression that I’m BFF with the most influential Christian leader of our time.  He sent the same type message to a lot of pastors that day. But that’s my point.  He really cares.  It lifted me up.  He had way more services to preach than I did.  He actually ended up with double pneumonia this week, probably from doing too many Easter services and hugging too many people!

So he had already asked his brother-in-law to preach this past weekend even before the tragedy of the loss of his son.  Ironically it was a sermon called “Surviving Your Worst Day.”  You can hear it here. Surviving Your Worst Day

Beth Moore said it well. “These who serve us publicly also suffer privately. They are not caricatures. They are not just personalities. They are people living on a painful planet with the rest of us.”

I live a public life.  I understand this well.  But I can’t imagine having to live in the glass house Rick and Kay have lived in.  It’s not just the lack of privacy; there is something much bigger - spiritual warfare.  The more a leader does for Christ, the more Satan wants to attack.  I do understand this part.

What I will never understand is how “so-called” Christian people allow themselves to be used by Satan.  Some are using this as a way to further attach this brother, because they think they have some kind of spiritual superiority. They mistrust the motives and methods of the guy who does more for the Kingdom in his sleep than they will do in a lifetime.  

On behalf of well intentioned, sometimes mistaken, but Grace-filled preachers of the gospel everywhere – SHUT UP.  Stop working for Satan!

There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that suicide is an unpardonable sin.  What part of grace is not amazing?  If “nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39) – how could mental illness?  Only those who have not had a family history of mental illness could think such things.

King David knew what Matthew Warren felt.

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. (Psalm 69:1-2)

Unfortunately I’ve had to do several suicide funerals.  They are very difficult, but they are ultimately a place where more of the healing hope of Jesus is needed than ever before.

John Piper says, “There is nothing unique or peculiar about the final act of life that makes it determinative in validating or nullifying our salvation. Or let me say it another way: The final season of faith with all its battles and failures is not the only season of faith that will bear witness in the Last Day that we were born again."  Funeral Message for Luke Kenneth Anderson

I know that many of my readers grew up in a theological system that decided that suicide was a mortal sin that could not be redeemed.  But that’s the point.  There is no such thing.  All sins are “mortal.”  (Romans 3:23).  And Jesus died to conquer all sin.  Can you say "Grace?"  

Which part of John 3:16 is not true?

To all my friends and church family, please continue to lift up Saddleback and the Warren family. 

To Rick and Kay, I would say, please continue to listen to Jesus alone.  When Jairus’ daughter died in Mark 5, the people said the same hopeless things they are saying to you. 

I love this text –

 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe… The child is not dead but asleep.” (Mark 5:36)

Rick and Kay and family - please ignore and believe. 

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25)

Grace, therefore Peace,

Tim

PS - Attached is the letter Rick sent to his church family about the tragedy. 

Our Dearest Saddleback Family

And this link is for an excellent post by Geoff Surratt about the inside testimony of the life of the Warrens. My Prayer for Rick and Kay Warren

The Power of the Resurrection

I don't know about you, but we have Easter at our church every year. 

Sometimes I think we take it for granted.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and adore.”

Easter is always amazing.  This year was no different.  We had almost 3000 people more than the record of last year.  That’s just crazy.  We sponsored 304 kids in Africa.  We had 13 services.  And that is amazing.

We should reflect.  If we only celebrated every thousand years it would probably be different.
 
But as I reflect on the glory of the weekend, it’s not about numbers.  It’s about stories.
 
In his book, “Who switched the Price Tags,” Tony Campolo tells of a African American pastor who was preaching to some students who were about to graduate.  He said, “Children, you are going to die!  One of these days the hearse is going to take you to the cemetery, drop you in a hole and everyone’s going back to the church to eat potato salad.  When you were born, you were crying and everyone else was happy.  Here is the question, 'When you die, will you be the only happy one with everyone else crying?'  The answer depends upon whether you lived to get titles or testimonies." 
 
It’s all about the testimonies.  That’s what I live for.  It’s about how the power of Jesus can bring a prodigal home, heal a marriage, lift up the broken-hearted, or cause two bikers from rival gangs to shed their “colors” and love each other.
 
It’s the old starfish story of “it made a difference to that one.”  That’s what I love. 
 
Every one of the people who showed up for an Easter service at any church had a story. It’s a story about the Power of the Resurrection.  It’s the same power that raised Jesus, which gives us our story.  We just need to open our eyes and hearts and receive it.
 
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus...I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers... I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power IS THE SAME as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead...  Ephesians 1:15-19
 
We cannot take that for granted.  We must now live in the power of the resurrection.  Don’t just let it fade away!

Live your story now.

Tim

Bikers and Muslims and Strippers - Oh My!

If Christianity is to be anything like the “Christ” for which it’s named, then church ought to be like this…

This is a picture of my biker friends Mike and Kenny. They were a part of two rival motorcycle gangs. A few years ago, if they had met in a bar,  there would have been bloodshed.  And I can assure you that both of them know how to make someone bleed.

Mike’s tattoo says KOBK (Kill or Be Killed).  It’s the way they lived.

Mike had left his gang a few years ago.  Kenny gave me his “colors” in the baptistery last week.  It was his way of leaving his gang.

Now they are friends and brothers in Christ. We are using video of their stories for Easter.  Incredible!

We had a stripper who’s been coming, feels accepted, and decided it was time to get baptized.

We also had Muslims baptized this weekend.  I didn’t know them before hand. They just made a decision. First ones in their family to leave Islam.

And one person had a tattoo that said, “DILLIIGAF” which means “Do I look like I give a…”

Can I just say that one of the things I’ve learned in 30 years of ministry is that most of the people that “normal” society see as “bad” are people that someone did something bad TO.

Not everyone.  Some girls decide to use their bodies for money because it’s good money or to support a habit that they got into entirely on their own. 

But if you talk to most people in gangs, drugs, prostitution, you name it – their back-story is that someone messed them up when they were young.

I think that’s why the Christ of Christianity had such a heart for them. 

“I did not come for the well, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12)

These are the people Jesus always hung with. Part of the reason is because Religious people are so dumb.  Wow, don’t get me started.  Jesus loved them too.  But Jesus loved the prodigals.  And so do I. They are rough, sometimes they embarrass me, and often they take a lot of work.  But there is nothing like seeing the power of  “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new Creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) at work.

We did 390 baptisms!  That’s 390 people declaring they are new creations!

Wherever you are reading this, I hope you’ll find a house of worship for the weekend.  A place to celebrate “the old is gone and the new has come.”

If you are a part of Parkview – we have 13 services here.

Orland Park Campus            

Lockport Campus

Here is an Evite you can use to invite someone to our service.  Especially invite them if they seem far from God.  This service is awesome, they are going to “get it.”  Don’t be this guy - This Could Happen to You

Evite for Orland Park Campus

Evite for Lockport Campus

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

 Happy Resurrection!

Tim

Preachers' Daughters

I'm not usually a "downer" guy on here, but this is ridiculous. Lifetime's newest series, "Preachers' Daughters," is a reality show about Christian girls gone bad. The show airs on Tuesday evenings at 10pm ET/PT (9pm CT). I don’t know what kinds of “preachers” are allowing these idiots to do a reality TV show in their home, but come on!!  The premise is just what you’d guess. Reality television about wild daughters of Pastors, who have denied their faith or at least decided to live on the other side of their faith.

"This reality show has three preachers' daughters in different situations that include teen pregnancy, contemplated abortion, planning a paternity test to discover who the father is, past drug and alcohol use, dreams of becoming a porn star, lying, disrespect for parents, and discussion of sexual acts with sisters and friends."

So what we end up with is another bad impression of pastors' families, and in general a bad impression of Christians period. We didn’t need any help with that. Of course a huge percentage of preachers' kids turn out well, but that makes for boring TV.

I'm sure these pastors and their wives genuinely care about their daughters, but these girls are being exploited in this reality show and their mistakes made public just for money. God bless their heart for their kids and their desire to show love and forgiveness, but it's not going to work.

It just makes me mad, because I have daughters. And I tried my best to protect them from the fishbowl life we live. Good or bad every little girl and boy deserve a chance to grow up and make mistakes without the whole world looking on.

Add to this, the new movie called "Spring Break" staring former Disney stars being "naughty" which is targeted at pre-teens.

As Los Angeles-based therapist Nancy Irwin noted, there's nothing acceptable about "hyping a soft-core porn movie to minors."

Agreed.

There is nothing acceptable about exploited Preachers' Daughters.

BTW - did anyone out there notice that Duck Dynasty is killing it in the ratings? One of the most popular shows on TV. With some redneck Christians who make duck calls. I love that show. So do a lot of other people. And no young girls are harmed in the making of this program!

Hey, I'm no prude here. But are there not enough broken hearts, STDs, and unwanted pregnancies in the world already?

Jeremiah said,

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush." (Jeremiah 6:15 NIV)

TAKE ACTION

Please send an email letter to the sponsors for the premiere of Lifetime's anti-Christian program "Preachers' Daughters." This week's national sponsors are: Kellogg's, Sears, Turbo Tax (Intuit), Jenny Craig, Jimmy Dean (Hillshire Brands), Reese's and Hershey's.

Send Your Letter Now!

Tim

You Can Call Me Francis

White smoke! There is a new Pope. I've never been Catholic, but it's still a big deal in world religious events – a huge deal. Pope Francis. Forgive me, but the first thing that comes to my mind is the line from the crazy character played by Bill Murray in Stripes when he says, “You call me Francis - I kill you.”

But I think we need to turn that one around today. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is now known as Pope Francis, and I think it’s a great idea.  He is the first Jesuit named to the office of Pope.

The Jesuits are known for their humility and compassion and sense of community. It’s reported that as a Cardinal, Francis would take the subway instead of private cars.  He often cares for the poor in Argentina.

And by the way – he’s from Argentina! He is the first Latin American, actually the first non-European Pope of the modern era. This is politically important for the church, because Catholicism is dying in Europe and even North America, but gaining in Latin America. This election represents the people.

Latin American Catholicism has its own issues. I’ve seen the weird mixture of Catholicism mixed with strange cultic animism in Cuba, Bolivia, and Ecuador. There are some crazy concoctions of Catholicism in some of these places.

However, for me, the best part about Pope Francis is the fact that he hasn’t been living in some ivory palace. He’s not oblivious to the plight of the poor and the oppressed.

We can only hope his mantra is “Don't cry for me Argentina. The truth is I never left you.” (Yes, I just quoted from a musical-completely out of context).  We can only hope that Pope Francis takes a sense of what the real world is like into the Vatican.

(Now the song is in your head – LOL.)

Pope Francis is named for Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was born into wealth, but had a vision that brought him back to work with the poor, which he did for the rest of his life.

The new Pope seems to embrace this. Already his first act as Pope was to ask the huge crowd to pray with and for him, instead of blessing them with his awesome new official abilities. Humility is what’s going to be needed. The Catholic Church needs a strong, humble leader.  They’ve got issues…

So what I would ask you to do, my blog readers, is to pray for this new leader. It doesn’t matter if you even have personal issues with the church; this new era in the Vatican is going to be important to the world.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. I Timothy 2:1-4

Tim

Retraction - My bad - it was not Bill Murray, it was the character - Psycho. "My name is Francis, nobody calls me that. You guys call me Psycho. Any of you call me Francis, I'll kill you."