Tim Harlow

What Do You Want on Your Tombstone?

I found it this week.

Acts 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement)…

He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.  (Acts 11:24)

Try to think of those people that fit that description. Isn’t that what you want? Good, full of the Spirit and faith, with lots of people in heaven because you exist. That’s beautiful stuff.

I’ve been at the Exponential Conference on Church Planting this week. We love church planting; I believe it’s the fastest way to save the world. We are planting in Ireland, New York, Paris, California, Chicago, Salt Lake City, etc. This is how a “great number of people are brought to the Lord.”

So the whole week has been a discussion of how to make that happen, and a lot of meetings and supernatural connections.  

And sitting in the middle of it all is a Barnabas.

His name is Rick Warren. You may have heard of him. This whole week at this church conference, where he is basically the coolest guy in universe, he sat at this picnic table. Every time I walked by, he was just sitting there – full of the Holy Spirit and Faith and he was an encourager to anyone and everyone who came up and talked to him. For three days.

I just talked to our church planters from Manhattan. They said he came up to them and said, “Have you had a hug from a Pastor today?” He didn’t know them. He’s just Barnabas.

I introduced him to Ricci and he got up and hugged him and said, "Dude, I want to go to your campus."  (Said he used to have hair like Ricci's:) 

The guy is one of the most important Christian leaders in the Universe. He has a large church and a larger ministry and so many things he should be doing. But instead of that, he sat on a bench and loved people. I know some of you have heard dumb stuff about Rick. It’s not true, it’s out of context, and it’s from Satan.

But this isn’t about him, it’s about Barney. Rick is just one of many examples of Barnabas I know. I want to be Barnabas. Honestly, I don’t know how to do it, but I’m working on it. It’s my goal. Obviously I want to be like Jesus, but sometimes I think I need to shoot a little bit lower first.:)

RIP - Tim Harlow

1961 - ????

“A good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.”

 (Acts 11:24)

Lord, hear my prayer.

Tim

How Do You View God?

A. W. Tozer says, 'What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us... were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, 'What comes into your mind when you think about God?'  We might predict with certainly the spiritual future of that man.'

That's quite a bold statement, but I totally agree.  We can go around quoting “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3) all day long – but the greater question is – HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?

It sort of goes back to the “Guy on a Buffalo” featured on Conan this week – 2 weeks after it was featured in a Tim Harlow sermon (once this loads you can catch the Guy on the Buffalo around the 28:19 mark)!

If I’m a guy on a Buffalo, then I don’t have to worry about a bear. 

But if my view of the Buffalo – or God – is weak, it doesn’t matter how strong he actually is, my faith will not be as strong as it should be.

One of the funny things God says to Job when he’s complaining is, “Do you have an arm like God's?” (Job 40:9) 

Maybe God struck a pose, I don’t know but Job got the point – God is buff. 

The Rocky Mountains are his biceps.  

Listen to these verses:

With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. (Jeremiah 27:5)

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)

It’s interesting that these passages refer to one arm.  It’s almost as if God is saying, “Look, I can handle anything with one hand tied behind my back.”

I need a God with a big arm.

I heard of two school kids bragging on the schoolyard.  One said, “My daddy can beat up your daddy.”  And the other kid goes, “Big deal!  So can my Mom.” 

One of the other important arm features in a person who you want protecting you is “reach.”  Muhammad Ali was “the greatest” partly because he had these six foot long arms.  It doesn’t matter how strong your arms are if you are swinging them in space while the other guy is pounding on you with his longer arms.  With that in mind, here are more arm scriptures…

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. (Isaiah 59:1)

Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? (Isaiah 50:2)

The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." (Numbers 11:23)

Now that is good stuff.  “Are you… talking to me?”  “Are my arms to short?” 

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, DON’T WORRY.”

Because God’s arms are long enough and strong enough.  He is big enough and powerful enough to take care of anything and everything that comes your way.

God asks Abraham “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)  No way, he’s buff.

Tim

PS – I’m very excited to interview my daughter Lauren for part of my sermon this weekend on Mary Magdalene.  We’ll talk about her experience in Bolivia with the street girls.  DON’T MISS IT.

 

Changed

Busted – I have listened to the new Rascal Flats album. I still think Country Music is one of music's lowest common denominators, but there are occasional redeeming qualities. Faith seems to be one of them. Many country artists wear their faith in God proudly, and Rascal Flats is one of them. Their new album's title, and first cut says this:

I came up out of the water
Raise my Hands up to the Father
Gave it all to Him that day
Felt a new wind kiss my face
Walked away, eyes wide open
Could finally see where I was going
Didn’t matter where I been I’m not the same man I was then

I got off track, I made mistakes
Back slid my way into that place where souls get lost
Lines get crossed
And the pain won’t go away
I hit my knees, now here I stand
There I was, now here I am
Here I am
Changed

I got a lot of “hey I’m sorrys”
The things I’ve done man that was not me
I wish I could take it all back
I just want to tell em’ that

Tell em’ that

I got off track, I made mistakes
Back slid my way into that place where souls get lost
Lines get crossed
And the pain won’t go away
I hit my knees, now here I stand
There I was, now here I am
Here I am
Changed

I’ve changed for the better
More smiles, that’s better
I even started to forgive myself

I hit my knee, now here I stand
There I was, now here I am
Here I am, Here I am, Here I am
Changed
Yes I am
I’m changed for the better

Changed

Thank God I’m changed

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s the “day after.” Our family usually heads out late Easter night to Missouri to be with family, and it gives me a lot of opportunity to contemplate all that God has done over the past several days. So listening to “Changed” fit perfectly into my reflection.

Because we had somewhere around 12,500 people in twelve Easter services come to hear the message of change – to Peter at the Resurrection, and hopefully many of them made some kind of step towards or back towards that relationship with the Father. I know that many made turnarounds toward home like the Prodigal did in Luke 15. I know that I will be in heaven someday listening to stories of people who were “changed” because they came to worship with us this Easter.

Here is what is really cool about the gospel. We will hear stories in heaven from people we will never meet here, potentially from other countries and continents, which will tell us they were changed because someone else was changed at Easter 2012. 

I can’t say enough about our team here at Parkview. Some of our volunteers, including many of our worship and children’s people did all of their services at their site!  Some of them spent basically their whole week at church.

I’m so proud to work with this team!  They rock.

I know that our work with God’s Spirit equals “change.”

So download the app – Parkview Church App

Here is the Funky Jesus Music staff video - Download Funky Jesus PreviewPC

Here is a ring tone for “Guy on a Buffalo” for your iPhone:

Download Guy on a buffalo

That’s all I’ve got for you now.  Feeling very blessed.

 

Tim

 

They Might Not Know They Are Welcome

I’ve read surveys lately that say that many of our unchurched friends would join us for Easter if they got an invite. Some surveys say most of our friends would come. 

So go invite them!  Why in the world do you think I’m preaching 9 times and we’re having 12 services?  Are we trying to set a worship service record?  We had over 13,000 people for Christmas Eve so we’re guessing we need 12 services to be able to handle the crowds.  We had some crazy crowded services and we’re hoping to avoid that.  So if you can – join us for the Saturday at 7 pm or the Sunday at 12:30 pm, because those are going to be the lightest, we guess.

But I started wondering to myself why people would need an invitation?  They know we’re here – they probably know you come here.  Why would a person need an invitation?  I think I know the answer.  They might not know they are welcome.

You see most people are walking around with a major sense of shame in their lives, and some of it, or most of it, is directed at God.  We all know that we stink, and we all have fallen short of what we knew God wanted.  WE DON’T DESERVE EASTER! 

That’s what my sermon on Gracenomics this weekend is actually all about.  We are all like the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable who didn’t even try to come home until he was desperate, and then we think we’re going to have to come home as a servant instead of a son.

But God is the Gracious Father who is desperately anxious for us to come home.  This is why we need to get involved.

This is my friend Mike.  I got to baptize him this weekend. 

It was so awesome for me; because he’s my friend and I see him several times a week at the gym (works for him more than me, obviously).  He came, because I asked him.

Who will be here this weekend – because you asked?  Which one of God’s prodigal daughters or sons is coming home to the Father because you got a little out of your comfort zone and made them feel welcome?

Service times

Orland Park

            Thursday, April 5 – 7 pm

            Friday, April 6 – 5 and 7 pm

            Saturday, April 7 – 3, 5, and 7 pm

            Sunday, April 8 – 8:30, 10:30, and 12:30 pm

Lockport

            Saturday, April 7 – 5 pm

            Sunday, April 8 – 9 and 11 am

Because He Lives,

Tim