Category Archives: Misc.

Mom and Dad. Parents. Wow.

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I went to a baby shower today. It was a couple’s baby shower. And since my wife and mother-in-law were the planners of this party, there was no escape.

It was actually kind of fun. Not that I want to make this a habit but I did enjoy the little get together, especially the mini key lime cheesecakes!

My brother-in-law is getting married in July. They are expecting their baby in June…I hope the baby isn’t too late!

Being there, eating finger foods and watching the happy couple open gifts of diapers, various bottle apparatus, and a plethora of soft animal things, I got to thinking.

This is her first child, his second. They are about to have their world rocked. Sure, having a 10 year old boy has certainly given my brother-in-law some experience to work off of here. But my soon-to-be sister-in-law is on the edge of the diving ready to plunge into the deep end. I mean really, you go to the hospital, just the two of you. In 2 or 3 days, there are three of you leaving together. They don’t even give you an instruction manual!

Kids. I have 2 of them. 18 and 15 years old. There are days when I am not really sure I am doing the right thing. Other days, my calm and strength come from a solid foundation in the truth of God. Those are two extreme places to be but when parenting, there are no restrictions. I just try to be consistent.

And that brings me to my blog. I want to write about parenting.

There will be some personal experience sprinkled in but mainly I will focus on Joseph and Mary.

God has given us His word. In this word, specifically Matthew 1, we can find out how Joseph and Mary became parents and what that first Christmas looked like for them.

If I may make a disclaimer here. I am not a licensed parenting psychologist or anything professional like that. I do however, have children and I was once a child. I do know something about life and raising kids.

And over the next two weeks or so, I am going to share these things with you.

With that in mind, enjoy your week. And don’t forget, Mother’s day is 7 days away. Do something about that!

Questions. What do you want to ask? part 3

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HE HAS RISEN!!! May this truth be more real than ever to you today.

I hope you have enjoyed the questions we looked at in this blog more closely.

Sidenote…I found it quite interesting that my pastor, today, based his sermon in John 18 and 19. In those two chapters, he looked at three questions that Pilate asked in the presence of Jesus.

If you feel like browsing, here is the link to our church’s youtube channel. As of this writing, I don’t think the Easter message is posted yet but it should be within a day or so.

And this link is to the church website. Central Church

And now on to my last question in this series.

The bible is overflowing with questions. This series could go on for months if we addressed all the questions we read. My pastor’s sermon only had three questions in it.

But I do have a favorite question. Of all of them, one sticks out to me. It resonates with me. I would even say I get equal parts challenge and encouragement from this single question. It has the ability to motivate and drive my life.

All human endeavors are summed up in a single sentence. Why we do what we do is contained in these words.

Are you ready? Sorry, not the question to which I am referring!

Here are the first 8 verses from Luke 24:

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8Then they remembered his words. Luke 24:1-8 NIV

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

I will share a few quick thoughts.

  1. Trust – Jesus said he was going to die and then be raised again. Maybe the ladies didn’t really believe it because he has been in the grave for three days.
  2. Timing – They were planning on anointing the body of Jesus but did not go the day after the crucifixion. It was the Sabbath so they had to wait an extra day. Jesus said three days.
  3. Temporal – This is the part that gets me. The angel said, “among the dead”. How many times do we look for life (happiness, joy, peace, life etc.) among things that are temporal (dead)? Drugs, Alcohol, Sex, Gambling, Job, Relationship, Games, Art, Sleep…or anything else?
  4. Toga – Okay, maybe it wasn’t actually a toga but it started with the correct letter. Jesus was gone and the shroud (toga) left behind symbolizes (at least in my opinion) that Jesus did not need the material things we seek after.
  5. Tomb – Tombs are full of dead things. Our living Savior is not there anymore.

These are the reasons why this question is my favorite. It encompasses all of life. Jesus is life and we can end our search with him.

So there is no reason to go to the tomb.

You can find life in our risen Lord. Jesus is waiting for you to look for him.

Questions. What do you want to ask? part 2

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A few days ago, I posted the first post in this series. The question that was asked is, “Why are you untying the colt?” The story comes from Luke 19. Click here to read the post.

Questions. We all have them. There are too many in the bible to count. I am going to focus on two of them today. The last post in the series will come on Easter (or perhaps the day after).

When we read about Jesus, there seem to be many questions floating around. Often, people are wondering who this guy is and how can he perform miracles and such. The religious leaders are always in a state of anger because Jesus doesn’t ever give them a straight answer. Let’s read a few verses from Luke.

One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Luke 20:1-8 NIV

Notice how the question was asked of Jesus, “Who gave you this authority?” A fairly legitimate question. I laugh at how Jesus confused his inquisitors. They didn’t know how to answer him.

It is this author’s opinion that the heart attitude of the people was not in a good place. They wanted to catch Jesus doing something wrong. They did not trust him. He was the enemy.

If our hearts follow that pattern, Jesus will be our enemy as well.

I ask you, in this Easter season, to check your heart. Jesus loves you and me so much it is incomprehensible. Don’t make him your enemy.

The second question comes two chapters later.

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Luke 22:39-46 NIV

Has that question ever been asked of you, “Why are you sleeping?”. Has Jesus ever asked you that one?

As followers of Christ, we have work to do. And yes, sometimes we get tired. There is even a day of rest built into our week. Jesus will empower us to do the job he has called us to do.

As much as I ask you, I am also asking myself. Am I sleeping right now – spiritually speaking?

If you or I answer yes, then get up! Jesus needs us. His end was near when he was praying in the Garden.

The end is near (end times, apocalypse, Revelation etc.). Now is not the time to slumber.

We can go out and fight this war. Our Captain will direct and lead us into the battle.

And we will win.

Sleepers can’t swing swords.

Clean as you go

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Welcome to 2023! I am saying that now even though April is only 2 days away!

I have not posted since December and now is the time to remedy the situation.

Clean as you go. That is a phrase I first heard close to 40 years ago. And it still rings true today.

My mother told me that at some point while I was watching her cook a meal. It was amazing to me to see how one person could prepare, cut, boil, bake, saute, and even burn (the rolls were always a victim) various foods yet still get it to the table at the same time.

On top of that, she always managed to clean the pans so all that was left was the dinner dishes. That mom of mine. Fanatastic.

Clean as you go.

I just finished cooking pancakes for my chemistry class. You can fill in your own back story on that one.

They ate while I flipped. And then I cleaned everything up after the pancake mix ran dry.

There is a good feeling about that when all the dishes are done. No clutter. One can relax.

True to form, at least as best as I can, here is the connection to the spiritual side of things.

Clean as you go.

The word that comes to mind is confession.

We have all made a mess in the kitchen of our lives. Pots and pans everywhere. The sink is overflowing with dirty dishes. There might even be some bugs floating around the stench.

But then we confess. Jesus helps clean up our lives. Correction, only He can clean our lives. Our efforts fall short. We can’t wash our own sins clean from our lives. That task belongs to Jesus. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins if we confess.

Jesus is the original Mr. Clean.

If you have a mess before you, go to God in confession. Confess to a friend, a pastor, or a spouse. Easter is coming up so I can’t think of a better time to get a spiritual dishwasher.

No amount of baked-on, greasy, leftover pots and pans is too much for the God who created the universe.

Make a confession a regular part of your routine. Or, in the words of my mom, clean as you go.

God bless – enjoy reconnecting with God in the Easter season.

In fact, more on Easter in the days to come.

Turkey and Frosting

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Happy Thanksgiving! I know I am a week late, but I am still eating turkey leftovers.

Wow. Over a month has gone by since my last post. Time can really move!

If you have been waiting for the conclusion to this series or are brand new to this blog,

I welcome you.

Thanks for taking two minutes out of your day.

If you would like to catch up or get some context, here are the links to the first three posts:

Double Birthday

Double Birthday, Again!?!?

The Day of Atonement explained

“Jesus changed everything. He always does. More on that next week.”

These are the final words of my last post.

And friends, I believe that with all my heart.

I can’t speak on behalf of other people. However, I can speak about my life.

Here is a picture of my life without Jesus.

  • I wonder if I would have my family. Surely, my wife would have left me long ago because of my addiction to porn. That is something that I could not overcome without Jesus.
  • My kids would only be around part-time. It pains me to think about not seeing my kids on a daily basis because of the divorce.
  • Jobs…I think that I would be barely making ends meet. Fast food work is not something I would earn a living on.
  • There were bouts of mild depression in my early twenties. Most likely I would be in a depression right now.
  • Alcohol…not really something I abused. But who knows, without Jesus, the bottle might be more attractive to me.
  • My relationship history was not the best. That pattern would probably continue to this day.
  • I most certainly would not have excellent friends from my church. I would not even belong to a church.
  • And the list continues…

Of course, this is all hypothetical. Jesus changed everything.

I do have a loving wife and wonderful kids. My addictions are broken. I work at a dream job. My church is close to me.

Because I have Jesus, I have everything I need. All this other stuff is really just his blessing. Frosting.

May I conclude with a question or two?

Do you have Jesus?

He cannot be bought, earned, manipulated, or caught. He must be invited.

He will change your life…for the better.

Are you ready to send that invite?

If you have questions or comments, I would love to field them. You can comment below or email me directly – tim@timsorbo.com

Thanks, as always, for reading. It might just be the best two minutes of your day.

See you next week for some thoughts on Advent.