The Timothy Chronicles

    During a season of extreme difficulty and hopelessness God led me to Psalm 27. I do not remember the exact moment, or exact circumstances into which God spoke this truth, but this passage has made a profound change in my outlook during difficulty. God used His words in Psalm 27 to deliver me from a deep pit of depression and despair, brought on by an immense feeling of worthlessness and doom. Since then, He has brought these few verses back to mind time and time again, to remind me of the great need during dark times - hope . I had lost hope. I fell victim to the enemy’s lie that all was lost, I had forfeited any claim on the benevolence of God, and my life would be nothing more than a display of failure. But as He does when we listen, the Lord overcame lies with truth and brought hope into my broken world.      COVID-19 has reached the shores of the United States. As I write this, the state in which I live has issued a shelter in place mandate....

    After hearing a moving sermon on sexual purity (which you can see here https://vimeo.com/393455560 ), I began to wonder how many times we say, “Never again.” How many times have we been confronted by our porn problem, anger issues, love of gossip, greed, lust, or myriad of other sins? The scenario is familiar. In a cavalier moment of strength we swear, “Never again. I’m done. The filters are going on the computer. I am going to conquer my tempter. I will even cut my tongue out to keep from gossiping!” Then as the space between the declaration and the temptation widens, our resolve weigns, and we fall. Again. In an attempt to help you live the never again, I want to turn your attention to something greater than your resolve - the Word of God and power of a redeemed heart. Colossians 3:1-17 will show you how to begin living the never again.      Set your mind on Christ      Living the never again begins with your mind. In v...

Are we amazed by less and less? I remember a world without the internet, and cars without air conditioning. And I am not that old! But now we carry the internet in our hand, and cars park themselves. A self-parking car was material for science fiction when I learned to drive. Yet the newest commercial for a self-parking car does not amaze us, on our best days we muster a , “Hey that’s pretty cool.” Technological advancement, scientific discovery, and fascinating inventions have slowly eroded the first world’s capacity to be amazed. We tend to lean toward figuring out how something works, rather than being amazed.  Inadvertently, this tendency to explain migrates into believers’ approach to the spiritual. Rather than amazement, we seek explanation. We define terms, create systems of discovering truth and present those truth in orderly fashion. In and of themselves, systems of truth and explanation are not devious. Yet, explanation is not always the proper response to the divine...

Listen as Mark talks about loving those difficult people in our life through the power of Jesus. https://vimeo.com/94269853

    As I am writing this, I look as shelves of books. Hundreds of books, ranging from classic novels to systematic theologies, scores of Biblical commentaries, books on church growth, and Christian living. Each of these books are noteworthy, having contributed to the field of literature, theology, ecclesiology, or living the faith.      I am reminded of walking through the library at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft.Worth, TX. At the time it was the largest theological library in North America. My wife was with me. She looked in wonder at  three floors of books, shelves upon shelves of volumes. With widened eyes she said, “Just think, all these books are written about one book.” And that one book, is unlike any other book that has ever existed, or will ever exist.      If we seek to live indwelt by the word of God, we must make reading that one book, The Bible, utmost priority. But as we read that book, ...

    If you and I are going to live indwelt by the Word of Christ, then we must spend time intentionally engaging the Bible. I use the word “engaging” rather than studying. When you study the Bible, which is a great thing to do, you can easily dig into the details of a certain biblical passage, but fail to engage that passage on a personal level. Engaging the Bible is different than studying the Bible. When you engage the Bible you recognize the voice of God speaking to you, and through the Spirit, and  interact with God’s Word rather than simply reading it. Think of the difference between reading a note from your friend and having a conversation with them. Furthermore, engaging the Word will compel you to live out what God has told you.      You could find a plethora of Bible study methods, most of which will help you spend time in the Scripture. I am not suggesting that my method is superior to any other method you can find, but as I have sp...

The Indwelling Word God’s Word holds a unique place in the lives of those who follow Jesus. Yet, it is often an overlooked part of our spiritual development. Not to say that Christians do not value the Bible, sometimes they just forget its place in spiritual development. Could it be that we suffer from “misplacing” God’s Word in our own spiritual walk? We attend worship where the Word is taught. We are involved in a Bible study group. We read devotional apps, and take time during the week to read portions of the Scripture. We even have Scripture displayed around our homes and on our desks at work! I want to suggest that we could seemingly saturate life with Scripture, yet it still not hold the place that it could in a dynamic walk with Jesus Christ.  We could easily be living life much like the Israelites in the days of King Josiah. We meet Josiah in 1 Kings 22. He is eight years old when his father dies and he ascends the throne. Not much is known about his early years as ki...