Tim Harlow

Another Record Breaking Holiday

It seems like it’s just another blog about another remarkable, supernatural, record breaking holiday service at Parkview. At some point we may actually not have one that exceeds our expectations, but it’s never happened yet. We had 7700 people come and worship the newborn King in our 6 Christmas Eve services. That’s over 20% more than last year! And the crazy cool thing about it was how well all of them went. We hardly had a technical difficulty, let alone anything major go wrong. God was really “in the house.” I’d love to know all the supernatural stories of life change and reservations in heaven that were made during these three days. But the ones I do know are amazing.

Thank you to all who worked in worship, communion, greeting, childrens, all of you who made it possible. Staff and volunteers really pushed the envelope on this one and it showed.

We also collected more than $40,000 for our special offering that will go to Africa, Restoration Ministries, and the family in need in our area. Add that to the 7 tons of clothing for the homeless and the 343 kids who got Christmas through Parkview, and I’d say we did a great job of showing what Jesus would think his birthday should be about. THANK YOU – WE ARE PARKVIEW!

My folks were able to come over and celebrate with us and share in it all and have Christmas with us. We weren’t able to be with my sister and husband, but we did that at Thanksgiving and it was a real blessing. My family is a blessing all the way around.

So Denise and the girls and I then headed to Missouri to spend Christmas with her family. All of them are in ministry so we all have to wait until after the stuff is all over to really relax and celebrate. It’s been fun. The first one of the next generation is engaged (Kevin – who interned with us a few summers ago). It just makes you wonder how much the whole thing is changing. They are all turning into young adults and will be starting their own families soon and life goes on. We sure don’t open presents as early as we used to.

It’s such a great family to be a part of. Here is the family picture.

Merry Christmas from the Harlows

Well this is it – the big weekend. Thousands of people have made e-reservations and it looks like everything will pull off in our six services. If you haven’t yet decided it looks like the first three will be fuller than the last three services. Sunday at 7 and both on Monday have the most room, but just come whenever you can. Every service has room still since we are doing so many.
Did you know we gathered 7 tons of clothing for the homeless last weekend? We are…Parkview.

Please pray for the services this weekend. So many things happen in people’s lives during these special services. People will be in heaven some day because of what goes on in the next three days!

Hey, since I can’t put all of you on the Christmas card list – I thought I’d just share the Christmas letter and picture that we are (maybe) sending out (okay for New Years). Lauren, middle child wrote the letter this year, in case you couldn’t tell…

Where's Our Focus?

My oldest had a tooth implant yesterday. It’s a long story, but it was from an accident when she was in 5th grade and the tooth slowly died and we put a crown on it and it fell off in April. But they wanted to make some corrections so she’s been missing a front tooth for 8 months. She’s had a crown in a retainer but it never looked right. So finally she has her smile back together. (Rachel did great at this by the way – she was a real trooper).

As I was in the waiting room yesterday it occurred to me how much we take for granted. It’s just one tooth. And our teeth are just one small part of our entire body. It’s amazing how much having one little part out of sync messes with our lives. One little virus knocks us down, one little appendix bursting can kill us, one little tooth gone is such an inconvenience. Our bodies are so amazing when you think about it.

It’s so easy to become focused on the one thing that isn’t going right, instead of all the things that are (and you can always ask Lonnie for perspective on that one).

I’m stressed this Christmas – are you? I’m thinking about the few little things that aren’t going right instead of the millions of things that ARE going right, and it’s freaking me out. I don’t know about you, but I need to stop focusing on the one missing tooth and remember all the other parts that are working so well.

Christmas just seems to magnify the hole in our mouths. It’s crazy.

So can you stop for a minute – and remember that absolutely nothing else matters past the fact that God came down and became a man so that he could save us?

Merry Christmas,
Tim

Joyful Worship

Snow…Snow… Snow… Snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Yeah, and I’m dreaming of a White Christmas and all of that. BUT DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN ON SATURDAY! Come on. Does anyone else notice that the bad weather keeps coming in on Saturday? Could it be …SATAN!

It’s just so obvious to me that someone down there doesn’t want a bunch of people out there to hear these sermons about the Supernatural Christmas.

It’s okay – we won’t be stopped by snow, rain, sleet, hail – if they can deliver the mail – we can do this!

I’m talking about paying attention to the supernatural again this week. This one is on the Wise Men – which is so weird. That God guided these pagan guys from worlds away with a star – because they were paying attention. And the religious leaders of the same religion were five miles away and never bothered to get off their couches.

Thank You, Parkview Staff!

Our hearts and prayers go out to the believers in Colorado after this weekend’s tragedy. Please join me in praying for them. They are fellow believers and missionaries in training and families that are going to be affected until we all get to be reunited in heaven. It’s so ridiculous. But it is the world we live in. We had our own issue with the bomb scare a few months ago. What I can assure you is that we are prepared. There are off duty police here and security and we are as prepared as anyone can be.

And speaking of…

I just wanted to tell all the bloggers what a great staff we have here at Parkview. We had our Christmas party yesterday and just shared some great stories about what God was doing here at Parkview.

It was such a great time to think back over the year, and to see the new faces that God has brought to our staff. As the church grows, our staff grows, and they are a very dedicated group of individuals.

Every one of them could make more money somewhere else, but that’s not the deal for us. Our biggest perk is getting to be a part of this magnificent thing that God is doing here. This Acts 2 church that is happening. I wish I could tell you the stories of life changes that were shared yesterday. Every department had stories. Marriages saved, kids who know Jesus, grief shared, hearts touched, people in heaven. It’s all so very great.

So I just want to say thanks to Parkview for being so open to God’s leading in your life. The Supernatural is happening here.

But God is only going to be able to work through people. And I just hope you all know how lucky we are to have the staff that we do – they keep it all together.

Wish them a Merry Christmas!

Tim

Throwing Jesus off a cliff

It’s a big weekend for us. Rachel is coming home from Nashville. She will be here through the holidays and leave on Jan 1 for Birmingham, England. She’s going with a ministry called “GlobalScope,” which is under the same missions group as our Africa connections. She will be doing campus ministry there as a student with 8 other young people at the University of Birmingham. It’s crazy to think about. It’s a 6 month deal and we won’t see her at all. So we’re gearing up for that.

And it’s Madrigal week at Lincolnway East. All of my girls have been a part of this wonderful program that brings old fashioned Christmas to the area. Becca and Lauren are a part of it and it’s fun that they get to be together, like Lauren and Rachel were 3 years ago. Both sets of grandparents are coming in and it will be a great time.

And it’s Denise’ birthday on Monday!

Other than that – it’s all quiet at the Harlows
How is it for you?

We’ve been talking about allowing the Supernatural to invade our Christmas and I was reading in my devotions in Luke this week and found this exact illustration of how we usually live out our Christian lives…

The Wonder of Christmas

Some of us are writing Christmas memories for the prelude of the Christmas Eve service.

This was one of my memorable Christmases. All of them were great. This year I was maybe 8 years old and I really wanted this space station thing. I wasn’t really into sci-fi – but the idea of space was so cool to everyone at that point. We’d actually gone there. It really intrigued me. Of course I wanted to go to space. I still do!

But the trick with this deal is transportation. We were going to Albuquerque to be with my grandparents in a VW Beetle. Do you remember how much trunk space those things had? All in the front? So the presents took up a lot of room that year. I’m sure my parents wished I would have wanted baseball cards instead.

They were always great about getting me what I wanted. I remember the year of the bike and one of my favorites was the Pogo stick. I wanted that so bad, and I wore the rubber stopper off of it when I got it. I wonder if it contributed to my ADHD? I’ve never stopped moving…

Where Do You Live?

Luke 3:23 (NIV)
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.

Isn’t that a cool phrase? I never noticed it before. “Or so it was thought.”

I think that is the beauty of the Christmas story. For those who didn’t get understand, it was “or so it was thought.” For those who did understand, it was “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Where do you live today? In the land of “Orsoitwasthought?” Or the land of “NothingisimpossiblewithGod?”

This entire Christmas season is full of the unexplainable. The supernatural, the spectacular, the miraculous.

Can our Christmas season be full of the same? Could God work miracles in your marriage like he did in Joseph and Mary’s? Could he show you his will so plainly that you would leave your comfort zone and follow a star to find your purpose? Could you have something supernatural happen in your body?

Yes you can!

It just depends on what land you live in…

Tim