Tim Boyd's Blog

A little catch up on our current teaching series at church (and on the blog) Week 1 - Who is Jesus? Jesus is God come to the earth. He came to bring healing and forgiveness. He came not to hurt but to heal. Jesus brought the Kingdom of Heaven down to earth. Week 2 - You are Blessed. We took a look at the Beatitudes. Jesus said you are blessed because He has arrived. You are blessed because He has come to make things right. Week 3 - You are Still Changed. Jesus said we are to be salt and light. We are to keep things from going bad and to do good things so people may see God in us. Mentor someone. Use what God has given you to bless others. Week 4 - There is a better life. Jesus announces that he has come to fulfill the law. He tells us that the law is the minimum bar. He expects more from us. Just as we should expect more out of life. “Don’t kill? I tell you don’t let anger ruin your life? Don’t commit adultery? I say don’t let lust ruin your life?”

Living in the Kingdom of Heaven is not like living in a house. It's more like living in a family. Living in a house: If the most important part of my home life was the house that I live in I would have a very nice looking house. The grass would always be mowed. I would have great flowers and plants all around the house. I would probably vacuum and dust a lot. I would get mad when the kids have their toys all over the house. I would have my allegiance to the house looking nice. I would take satisfaction in my furniture, my tv, my view. That's sounds a lot like being a slave to my house. My beautiful house becomes my beautiful prison. Living in a family: Living in a family doesn't have the same constraints that the house has. When my family is of utmost importance I make sure that I am always serving my family. Maybe it's through hard work and doing a job well. That brings me money to serve my family as well as a lesson to teach my kids. I can receive apprec...

"You have heard it said, and eye for an eye...but... "If someone slaps you, turn the other cheek and challenge him to slap you again." "If someone sues your for your shirt, give him your pants too. Right there in front of everyone." "If your boss uses his or her power to control you in ways that are not in your job description. Ask him or her if there is anything else that they need done." Jesus taught these three little lines in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:38-42. They are short, but they are full of implications. It's interesting. I've been taught that Jesus was not weak. He was strong. He's powerful. He's in control. Hmmm... When Jesus was in his final days, he was getting grilled from the High Courts. "Are you the king of the Jews?" He wouldn't answer their questions. He just stood there. Is that a sign of his weakness? Then they started beating him. They took all his clothes. They humiliated hi...

If you want a petty, little life I would contend that you can do that by letting anger run your life. Let me illustrate: Something happens at work and it makes you angry. You get angry because you are insecure. (Secure people generally don’t snap as fast. People who understand who they are and how they work don’t have as many anger actions as the rest of us.) So you get insecure and angry and you take that home with you. You don’t neccesarily even know that they anger followed you home. It’s your fault though because anger knocked at your door and you gave in to it. So you bring that hidden anger home and overreact to spouse. Your such a big man that you take it out on your wife. Or your such a smart woman that you take it out on your husband. Then the two of you (who have just had a really long day) take it on your kids. Clean your room! All you have to do is clean your room! You have one thing that you need to do in this world and you can’t even do that! When I was you...

Every four years I, with the rest of the world, love the spectacle of the Olympics. Some huge world class city goes crazy and spends billions to build these beautiful buildings. They spend years planning the opening ceremony. This year in China was great. Remember the guy running on the side of the roof? I like watching the Olympic march. All the olympians from all the countries parading around the center stage. They are all dressed in something from their country. It's fun. There are two types of athletes there. Just like there are two types of people everywhere. There are athletes who are glad to be there and there are athletes who want the gold. You can almost tell by looking at them during the Olympic march. Some are smiling and some are sullen and focused. Some are snapping pictures and meeting everyone else. Some are measuring up their opponents. Some skip the march to get prepared for their events. Jesus came to save us and give us a better life. Some Christi...

I have been holding off on writing this one. Since we have moved from Omaha (1 million or so) to Cowden (650 or so), I have had a song going through my head. I didn't want to say anything about it, because everything seems so perfect for my family and me right now. Today I went fishing for the first time in 6 years. I sat down on our picnic table in the backyard and geared up my pole and the pole given to me by my Grandpa. I also took his old net and unraveled it. I put the old poles, my tackle box and the net into my car and headed out to our new friends house. There I was led through a gravel road into a cornfield. He took me back to the pond and told me how his dad made this pond about 40 years ago. He told me that he had lived here for just over 60 years. He told me he couldn't dream of living anywhere else. I got out and I fished for about an hour. I didn't hear anything. There were no cars, nothing. I walked out on the old dock and fished. There were bugs...

Today we took a look at Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:13-16. He asked the Israelites that were listening to him to be the Salt of the Earth and Light of the World. So I gave a sermon about what that meant to the people of that day and what it means to us. So here is the first part that I thought was interesting.... Q: Have you ever wondered why the Israelites were God's chosen people? Why did they get that special distinction? God told them that they were His people. He saved them and blessed them time and time again. He corrected them occasionally, but He always stepped in to rescue them. Why them and why not someone else? That doesn't seem fair. A: They were God's chosen people so that God could work through them to bless the entire world. They weren't supposed to take all of God's blessing and keep it to themselves. God had to continue to teach them, rebuke them, save them, and then teach them again. They could never let Him work through them. T...

I just figured out how to record my message audio and podcast it. It wasn't really that hard. I am going to have my mac plugged into the soundboard. Then it will be recored in garage band and exported to Gcast. That's free. So the audio will be available by subscription (free) or here at my blog. Hopefully it will soon be on our church website as well, when we get that going in the next few weeks ( I hope). Check back Monday and maybe it will be available.

I got to meet a celebrity. Well, not really, but I got to see him play basketball. A few years ago Mindy got me tickets to the Timberwolves v Pistons game when they played an exhibition game in Omaha. I remember walking in to the stadium and seeing Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and of course, my favorite player, Kevin Garnett. I loved watching the game and I had great seats. When the players ran back in to the locker room at halftime they ran right by me and I was so close I could have gotten high fives from them. I remember looking at them and realizing that they aren't as big in real life as they are on TV. Sure most of them are 6 inches to a foot taller than me. But they aren't as impressive looking as you would think they are just from watching TV. Have you ever felt that? You build someone up so much and then you see them in real life they are the same size as you? Or you are actually taller than they are? When Jesus came people were probably let down by Him. ...

If you walk into a Christian bookstore I am sure that you will find Matthew 5:3-12 somewhere. It may be in a plate, a coffee mug, a shawl that you hang on the wall, a water bottle, or even a plaque for your desk. You may even find it on a shirt. So you could take this one scripture and wrap up in the Beatitude blanket while sipping coffee from a Beatitude mug. On the table next to you you could have a bagel on your Beatitude plate. Maybe this scripture has been a bit overdone, without really being understood. The Beatitudes (or as Robert Shuler calls them - The Be-happy Attitudes! ) is not a collection of teachings from Jesus about how to be happy. This section of scripture is right at the beginning of Jesus' first message. People from all over had heard of Jesus healing people and forgiving sin (which only God can do). People followed him. Jesus didn't schedule a "worship service" or have anyone "sign up for a class or workshop." Jesus didn't t...

I did my first-ever visit to a nursing home (or whatever you are supposed to call them). I met with a wonderful lady named Marge. She is 77 years old. We talked a bit and her daughter Debbie was there. It was very nice. I love meeting people - so this being a part of my new job is awesome and an unexpected blessing. Right when I stepped in the door I said, "Hi my name is Tim Boyd and I am the new Pastor at the First Christian Church in Cowden. And don't worry I'm old enough to be there." She looked straight into my eyes and said "you can't be!" She shared with me about some of her struggle right now, and the joy she had with her kids. She told me how she met her husband of 59 years. She cried when she said he died 6 years ago. She really missed him. It was a wonderful conversation, unlike anyone I have had in a while. Then I asked her if she had any advice for me. She laughed at the thought of it and then just as quickly as she laughed she s...

My friend Justin has a blog here . He asked the question; What would you do if you had 15 minutes with Jesus? Here is his answer . Here is my answer: I would tell Him that I am incredibly grateful that He saved me and then I would ask Him to tell me a parable (one of His teachings) on the Kingdom of Heaven. I just want to hear His voice and see His face as He tells me a story of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. I want the experience that so many people had in the Gospels. I just want to hear the Great Teacher teach.