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Welcome to THE TIMOTHY REPORT for August 16, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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Is based on Numbers 6:24, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee.” Any of the graphics appearing on the website are absolutely free for use in your non-profit organization’s publications, and can be downloaded at www.timothyreport.com
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SERVICE, PERSISTENCE
In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite's primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter's magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target. But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter's immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.
And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most remarkable," writes Jaroff, "those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth." The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.
So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however, through someone who quits.
--Craig Brian Larson, “Pastoral Grit: the Strength to Stand and to Stay,” Bethany.
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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FATHER’S LOVE LETTER
The Cry Of A Father's Heart From Genesis To Revelation
My Child…
You may not know me, but I know everything about you …Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up …Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways …Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered …Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image …Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being …Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring …Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived …Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation …Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book …Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live …Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made …Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb …Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born …Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me …John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love …1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you …1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father …1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could …Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father …Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand …James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs …Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope …Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love …Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ...Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing …Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you …Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession …Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul …Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things …Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me …Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart …Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires …Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine …Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager …2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles …2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you …Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart …Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes …Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth …Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus …John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed …John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being …Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you …Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins …2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled …2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you …1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love …Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me …1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again …Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen …Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father …Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…Will you be my child? …John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you …Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad.
Almighty God
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(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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I’M STILL HERE, BUZZ
It was a little thing, insignificant really, and yet I had gotten my feelings hurt; and yes, I was angry, even though I knew it wasn't worth getting angry about. My wife, Belle, had done something that involved both of us equally, but she acted completely independently, without my knowledge or approval, and when I found out about it, I felt ignored, uncared for, wiped out, and of no influence. We all have our place of greatest vulnerability, and for some reason this one is mine. I have visited it on too many occasions during my lifetime, almost always over matters of little or no consequence; and it always has gotten me in trouble, big trouble, usually in the form of a massive argument (or more like open warfare, actually). I was not prepared to enter into another one of those, so, without voicing my feelings, I announced that I was going uptown to do some errands, and off I went, still fuming.
The sun was just going down, and as I was driving along, the view on my right suddenly opened up to reveal the most beautiful sunset I have seen in a long while. I stopped the car to gaze at it. The Eastern sky was like liquid gold, and it was so brilliant and vivid that I just sat there, fascinated by it.
And then, from the depths of my being, I heard a quiet voice say these words as clearly as if they had been spoken audibly: "I am still here, Buzz."
Immediately, everything that had been magnified and distorted in my mind, and had become seemingly so important to me, snapped back into its proper proportions; and I just sat there in wonder and awe at the blazing beauty and magnificent majesty of our wondrous and wonderful God, who loves me personally and individually so much that he would literally and unmistakably speak to me, to bring me out of the darkness of my anger and hurt. It was one of those too rare moments when I knew the close presence of God so clearly and so surely, that I could almost tangibly feel him, not just next to me, but inside me, a part of me in a way that defies description. I smiled at the folly of my anger and hurt, and I determined not to make such a foolish mistake again.
So much for human determination, for I, of course, have slipped back into my folly many times since; but it doesn't happen as often now, and the thunder clouds are no longer so dark and impenetrable, and I hear that voice from within sooner than before: "I am still here, Buzz."
--“Buzz” is Stephen B. Elmer of Cape Cod in Orleans, MA, and he has graciously granted his permission for this article to be shared with you.
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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INTEGRITY
In 1948 crusade evangelism was just beginning to become a major movement in this country. Many such evangelists were active, and a number of them had already begun committing the sins and experiencing the failures we associate with this work.
So it was that a little-known evangelist asked the three members of his team to meet with him in his hotel room during a crusade in Modesto, California in November of 1948. The four resolved to handle their offerings with integrity and draw only a salary; to count the crowds based on the lowest numbers produced by objective sources; never to criticize local clergy or leaders.
And they determined most of all to maintain absolute moral integrity. They would never meet alone with a woman; they would never get on an elevator alone with a female; the evangelist would even send an associate into his hotel room first to be sure no women were present.
As I said, this evangelist was just one of many active in the country, and little-noticed. But the next year, I believe as a direct result of his integrity and character, his Los Angeles crusade catapulted him to international fame. You know his name, of course.
By the way, that evangelist has broken his rule never to be alone with a female only once, when Hilary Rodham Clinton and he met for lunch at a table in the middle of a Little Rock restaurant.
--from a sermon by Jim Dennison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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PREACHER, SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
A research team proceeded towards the apex of a natural geologic protuberance, the purpose of their expedition being the procurement of a sample of fluid hydride of oxygen in a large vessel, the exact size of which was unspecified.
One member of the team precipitously descended, sustaining severe damage to the upper cranial structure; subsequently the second member of the team performed a self-rotational translation oriented in the same direction taken by the first team member.
It will be a while before Jack and Jill head up that hill for a pail of water again.
(NOTE: Preacher, if you have a message to tell, don’t muddy it up with your intelligence. Just tell it.)
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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THE REAL BATTLE WE FACE
In a column titled "Bush's God" in this month's “American Prospect” magazine, Robert Reich declares that religion is a graver threat to America than terrorism. Reich predicts that the great battle of the 21st century won't be between terrorists and the West but between "those who believe in the primacy of the individual and those who believe that human beings owe their allegiance and identity to a higher authority … between those who believe in science, reason and logic and those who believe that truth is revealed through Scripture and religious dogma."
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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QUOTATIONS ON PRAYER
We are to pray continually "not, one assumes, because you have to beat a path to God's door before he'll open it, but because until you beat the path maybe there's no way of getting to your door.
-- Frederick Buechner
All the troubles of life come upon us because we refuse to sit quietly for a while each day in our rooms.
--Blaise Pascal
I have begun to see that worship and intercession are far more the business of aligning myself with God's purposes than asking him to align with mine.
--Gordon MacDonald
Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible's idea of prayer is that we may get to know God himself.
--Oswald Chambers
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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PRUNING
When God graciously prunes us, He does not use a knife. Instead, He works through the circumstances of our lives. Whenever He detects in any one of His children the potential of productivity, He starts to shape that Christ’s experience in such a way as to cut out the dead wood which is hindering growth and fruitfulness. A disciple with spiritual potential may suffer a crushing disappointment. He may undergo a jolting loss. He may find himself on a hospital bed with a painful illness. He may taste the bitterness of betrayal by a trusted friend. He may stumble like a zombie through the breakup of his marriage. He may weep over a wayward son or rebellious daughter. He may walk through the darkness of the valley of death, bereaved and heartbroken. He may know the misery of loneliness. He may even feel the agony of despair. In those circumstances he may keep on asking why. “Oh, God, why? Why is this happening to me? Are you angry? Are you displeased? Are you punishing me?”
And God may answer lovingly: “No, my child. This is pruning, not punishment.”
--Vernon Grounds, “Radical Commitment,” Multnomah Press, 1984, pp. 91-92
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND THEM
The new-born church as vulnerable as any human child having neither money, influence, nor power in the ordinary sense, is setting forth joyfully and courageously to win the pagan world for God through Christ. It is vigorous and flexible, for those are the days before it ever became fat and short of breath through prosperity or muscle bound by over-organization. These men did not make acts of faith. They believed. They did not say their prayers; they really prayed. They did not hold conferences on psychosomatic medicine. They simply healed the sick…. There is something here at work besides mere human beings. It is a matter of sober, historical fact that never before has any small body of ordinary people so moved the world that their enemies could say with tears of rage in their eyes that these men had turned the world upside down.”
--J. B. Phillips, in introducing his translation of the Book of Acts
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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EXPECTATION
When God is involved, anything can happen. Be open. Stay that way. God has a beautiful way of bringing good vibrations out of broken chords.
--Charles R. Swindoll
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 16, 2004)
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