Tim Harlow

Great Stuff This Weekend

Well, first of all, I must say CONGRATULATIONS to the Cubs on winning the division. I am first and foremost a Chicago fan so even though I’m not a Cub fan, I will be pulling for the Northsider’s during the playoffs. I will be true to my Parkview Cub fans as a good pastor should be.

This weekend is significant for more ways than just to find out who the Cubs play. We are going to address the “Why” question of “Why is the world so messed up?” We’ve got a “choir” of young people from Jamaica and the Caribbean Christian Children’s home for the deaf called Hands In Praise who will be signing and doing a special presentation for us in the service. Also we’re having a testimony by Nick Vijucic, President and CEO of Life Without Limbs. They are a part of a Disability Summit put on by Joni Eareckson Tada at Trinity College this weekend and we are fortunate to have them share in our services.

And I will also be preaching (a bit shorter) message about the problem of pain. I hope you are coming and I hope you are bringing some people with you – and it would really be cool if you were coming on Saturday night. We have a big Saturday night party happening after the service tonight with food and inflatable’s and Ryne Sandburg (just kidding). It’s going to be fun and we’re trying to bribe people into coming on Saturday night so we have room to grow on Sunday.

I was reading in the Psalms this week and this one really struck me in the way it dealt with pain and suffering.

Psalm 77

1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.

Join Me at the Super Saturday BASH!

Hey Parkview...

I hope you’re planning to come to the SUPER SATURDAY BASH this weekend!

We’re going to get together immediately following the 5 PM service this Saturday the 29th to just hang out and have some fun!

There will be inflatable jumping things for the kids, hotdogs and chips for everyone, and we’ll even have some bonfires going so you can roast marshmallows!

So make plans to stay after on Saturday and get to know some other Parkview folks.

Just let us know that you’re coming so we can make sure we have enough food. Signup now! (And if you’re usually a Sunday morning attender, this would be a great opportunity for you to give Saturday a try!!)

Hope to see you at the BASH…

Pastor Tim

P.S. I also want to say that the service this weekend is going to be amazing, as we continue our “Why?” series and ask the question, “Why is the World so Messed Up?” We will be joined by Nick Vujicic, president of Life Without Limbs, who has a really powerful testimony, along with Hands in Praise, a team of Jamaican students from the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf. If you’ve been thinking about inviting that friend or neighbor to church, this is a great time to do it!

The Bible & Science...Why the Conflict?

Okay, first of all. We pretty much broke a record in attendance last weekend so we really need you to come on Saturday or “Do the Shuttle” from down at Horton Group (east of Parkview on 183rd Street.) We will likely have more this weekend. And the Bears aren’t on until Sunday night! Please keep helping us park people so they can get to know God.

I’m talking about Science and God this weekend and “why” they seem to be so incompatible. The short answer is that they aren’t, but you should still come and hear the whole deal. For my research on this I read a fascinating book by Dr. Francis Collins, called “The Language of God.”

He is the man I quoted several times last week. He was the head of the Human Genome Project that finished mapping out DNA, which was one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the century. And he is a Christian. He started out Christian, and then in his scientific learning became an atheist, and then in more scientific learning – turned back to Jesus Christ. Now his views on the origin of the universe are still basically that God started evolution (he calls it BioLogos) and I disagree with him there. But from the place he is coming from, the book is very interesting. Especially as he gets down to the end and starts talking about what believing in God meant to him.

“After my conversion to belief in God, I spent considerable time trying to discern His characteristics. I concluded that He must be a God who cares about persons, or the argument about the Moral Laws would not make much sense. So deism wouldn’t do for me. I also concluded that God must be holy and righteous, since the Moral Laws calls me in that direction. But this still seemed awfully abstract. Just because God is good and loves his creatures, does not, for instance, require that we have the ability to communicate with Him, or to have some sort of relationship with Him. I found an increasing sense of longing for that, however, and I began to realize that this is what prayer is all about. Prayer is not, as some seem to suggest, an opportunity to manipulate God into doing what you want Him to. Prayer is instead our way of seeking fellowship with God, learning about Him, and attempting to perceive His perspective on the many issues around us that cause us puzzlement, wonder, or distress.

What about Mother Teresa...

Many of you have heard something about the new book coming out regarding the letters of Mother Teresa. In these letters, she writes openly and honestly about some of her doubts.

My friend, Ben Cachiaras, who spoke here this summer, did an excellent job addressing the subject and I’d like to share his thoughts with you. (Ben's Notes on Mother Teresa.)

Tim

Why Questions

Some days are harder than others in ministry.

Today I did a funeral for the 9 week old granddaughter and great granddaughter of some of my closest friends. The death was tragic in so many ways and there is something inside of everyone reading this that tells us that this is not right.

Which also relates to what I’m preaching today about “Why should I believe in God.”

I like the way Eugene Peterson put it, in his paraphrase of the Bible.

“God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our being at creation. There is something deep within us that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong.” Romans 2:15 the Message

We know that it isn’t right that this baby (whose name meant “gift of God”), would be taken from the earth this soon. We know that she is in a much better place than this, but as much as we know the heart of Jesus towards children, we know his heart is grieving as well.

What a Weekend!

What a great weekend. We had 3,794 in attendance for the “Three Chairs” sermon and then had close to a thousand people come to the church picnic out at the Camp.

We had beautiful weather and a bunch of baptisms. We had 33 baptisms!
Here’s a note from Lonnie -

This weekend has been just awesome!! Starting with Saturday night, we had a wonderful woman and her husband come to be baptized. She was helped out of her wheelchair, and they were baptized by his sister and brother-in-law. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house! Then following the service, two more couples gave themselves in baptism.

On Sunday, a young man was baptized during the 9 AM service. Following the 11 AM service, a woman came up to me in her walker chair and was disappointed to hear that the pool at Camp Manitoqua was a little bit of a trek. She seemed sad to hear that so I asked her if she would like to be baptized right then. She was just like a kid in a candy store when she replied “Can I?” So I grabbed a couple of guys who helped her as she scooted down the steps into the water. I’ll never forget that smile!!

Finally, the picnic was amazing. People kept coming forward, some who just went into the water in their clothes because God called to them on the spur of the moment. It was beautiful, and moving, and memorable. When the last person rose out of the water, 24 people were baptized in that Camp pool.

33 people came this weekend and said “I believe that Jesus is the Christ…the son of the Living God…and He is my Savior.” Praise GOD!!!

Three Chairs and a Picnic...

We have a great weekend ahead. If you can’t be here, please listen online or get the CD next week. It’s a message I’ve done before…a concept by Dr. Bruce Wilkenson called “The Three Chairs.” It’s one of the best messages on the Christian life I’ve ever heard.

Pray for the weekend. If you are reading this from out in cyberspace – listen to it next week. Borrow it. Preach it. It’s not mine – I borrowed it already. [If you know Bruce, tell him “thank you” from me :-) ] Read the book…it’s called “Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs.”

We here at Parkview have a fun weekend ahead in another way. We are actually pulling off an all-church picnic. It’s really more like a town fair because of the size of our church, but Camp Manitoqua is only a few miles from us and offers us an amazing place to get everyone together. Please come out and join us around 1:30 on Sunday if you are around.

And we will be doing mass baptisms at their pool during the picnic. It will be awesome. If you have never been baptized by immersion – what could be better than doing it at the church picnic with a bunch of other people doing the same thing? Bring your suit or shorts and a t-shirt (dark – thank you), and “come on in, the water is fine!”

If you have questions about why we do baptism by immersion – here are the notes to the last sermon I preached on baptism. (Download baptism.pdf) Or you can even listen to it. (Real Audio or Windows Media).

And hey, we are expecting a big weekend with everyone back from summer and all of that – so please consider shuttle parking on Sunday (just east of the church a half a mile down at the Horton Group). It won’t take you any extra time, we are running multiple shuttles, and we will give you a million dollars if you ride it (one of these statements is not true.)

I can tell you that this weekend is going to rock the Kingdom of Darkness. I can feel the evil one trying to mess with me, and I can feel the prayers of the Saints holding me up. Be ready to Rock and Roll.

Next week, we start the "Why?" Sermon Series (www.wonder-why.com). Please start thinking about who you can invite. This is going to be a great opportunity to help people find Jesus. And get in a small group. Get a “network.” You need it. You can still sign up this weekend in the foyer or at www.parkviewgroups.com.

Here is my favorite scripture from the week.

Psalm 62:11-12 (NIV)

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that you, O God, are strong,
¹² and that you, O Lord, are loving.

Let’s memorize that one.

Tim

the great pumpkin

On the way home from Wisconsin we found a guy who's hobby was growing giant pumpkins. Like these are all around 1,000 pounds.

He has the record for Wisconsin and has one that may go 1300 pounds this year. The world record is 1500. When they are in the height of growing season, they grow between 25-40 pounds a day! Can you imagine? You could actually "sit on the porch and watch the pumpkins grow." As it turns out this is a popular hobby and the guy was really interested in telling us about it. I guess, I could grow one in my yard if I wanted to.

It takes special seeds, and good soil and care, and you have to tend to the vine. The vine takes up to a thousand square feet for one pumpkin. And you have to cut all the renegade pumpkins off so that only one pumpkin is growing for that whole vine. Go to www.bigpumpkins.com if you want to learn more.

I guess what intrigued me was the tie in to my spiritual life. It just makes me wonder how great my relationship with God would be if I only had one pumpkin? No distractions. I mean, I have a job and a family and there are other pumpkins I have to deal with. But a thousand pound pumpkin! It's going to take some work, man.

John 15:5-8 (NIV)
⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

labor day

Labor day – “a day off for the working man” – was established in 1892.

So I am doing it this year. I’m up in Wisconsin at Eagle River with the family and some friends. Wow, was there a little traffic on the way out of Chicago. Three and a half hours to Beloit. We got here at 130 am. It seems like everyone was headed out of town for Labor Day. Of course I am actually writing for my blog so I’m not totally off. But I am writing on my laptop on a pontoon boat on Catfish Lake. So it’s all good. I’m watching Bald Eagles soar over head as I write this. Awesome.

Labor Day is a cool weekend. It’s always around my birthday, and we get a day off, and it’s the start of NCAA and NFL football. It’s the most..wonderful time…of the year.

But spiritually speaking, there is something to the whole day of r?est. God did it in the beginning and it wasn’t because he was tired. He was setting an example for us. Why in the world was a day of rest included in the Ten Commandments? Do you ever think about that? Like do not murder or steal and take a day off. It’s just weird to put them in the same category. But like not murdering or stealing, some of the commandments were for our benefit and the benefit of society. God wants us to realize the rhythm to life. It’s like the rest notes in music. If you play nothing but notes and never rest, it sounds like the “Flight of the Bumble Bee” and who needs that? Rest, makes you appreciate when the notes do play.

So I hope you get some. The main thing from God’s perspective about Sabbath rest is that we finally get some time to remember that He is God. Somehow in our “bumble bee” lives it’s hard to be still and know that he is God. I can tell you this; it’s not hard to see God up here in the North woods. I hope you can see Him around you as you take a little extra time off this weekend.