Tim Boyd's Blog

Everyone has a worldview. A worldview is simply how someone sees the world. This may not be a well thought out idea that someone has and generally it isn’t. Someone’s worldview may just be what they have had handed down from their parents or respected teachers and adults in their lives through their formative years. Worldview may be constructed through a person’s experiences. Someone who has fought in a war would have a different outlook on life than someone who has grown up with a trust fund. It remains that each person has a way to interpret the happenings of life. This would be their worldview. This paper is to discuss what a Biblical worldview is and how that applies to consumerism within the American evangelical church. A Biblical worldview would be a way to interpret life using what a person would find in the Bible. This process requires much Bible reading and study as well as time for personal reflection and trial. A person must be able to line up his or her actions...

I started out today antsy and upset. I tried really hard not to be, but I just couldn't shake it. I have had a very busy week. Yesterday I thought I was getting caught up at work and just started to realize how much I have going on there. Then I got to take a nice break. I went fishing for this first time on Lake Shelbyville. It was a very nice afternoon. The rain had stopped but it was still very overcast. There was no wind and the water was very calm. The trees on the side of the lake were starting to turn into the beautiful red, orange, and yellow. They were still dominated by the rich green though. We didn't catch too many fish, but it really didn't matter. Then I got home and had to get flash cards at Walmart. By the time I got home it was time to tuck the kids into bed. Then I did homework for Hebrew for about 2 hours (on a Friday night). That leads me to today. So I woke up and tried to have a good day but I couldn't quit thinking about all that I ha...

The Fall. Why did it happen? The simple(ish) answer is that it happened because of free will. God loves us and made us to be in His image. He gave us the ability to choose. We can do as we please. We can use that freedom to honor God and thank him for creating us and giving us freedom, and then get to work doing what he's asked of us. Or we can use that freedom to fulfill the desires that we have. That would then make us a slave to our desires. This is how addiction works. We crave the freedom to do whatever we want. We use that freedom to care only for ourselves and live only for the present moment. How well does that work? Ever seen someone truly happy because they are addicted to meth? Is there a lot of happiness found in the life of an alcoholic? Is there freedom in covering up a porn addiction? God gave us free will and we were tricked by a cunning little snake. So we traded that free will for a lifetime of slavery to sin. Oops. How does that fall shape our worl...

The Fall. How do you like that? Today is the first day of Autumn (fall)? That's funny. (I listened to my sermon on the podcast today on my way up to school. I still laugh at my jokes. No one else does and that is fine. I make a lot of jokes here at the Seminary and most of them do not get a laugh. I think my humor is too smart and subtle for them to pick up on.) Let's start again... The fall. Everything that we know starts in Genesis. God speaks the world and all life into creation. I am sure that all of us have come to terms with what that means since I have posted that a few days ago (another stupid joke). Genesis 1 and 2 tell the account of the creation. Then the fall happens. God then spends most of the rest of the Bible working for the redemption of man. He makes clothes for Adam and Eve. He gives the nation a ruler, and then a king when they ask. He sends the prophets to ask us to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. John the baptist does the same...

It all begins with creation. That statement is loaded. God created. God created the cosmos. God created the Earth. God created everything in the Earth. God created man. God created life. He created life in the plants and the animals. He created humans who create as well. He created creative creatures. Life continues to create. Plants will always grow. Grass may lay dormant. Grass may die without water. That grass will come back. Creation is the beginning of the story. The Kingdom of Heaven makes no sense without the creation. In the first 2 chapters of Genesis. God creates the world in 7 days. God is there. God speaks words into reality. God creates the world in which we live. God creates a world of life. The garden the He creates is not perfect. Perfect implies a stopping of movement. Perfect is something that is attained. The Garden of Eden isn't as perfect as it is alive. God creates animals, cells, hills, oxygen, carbon, and stars. Man is made and is g...

Creation - Fall - Redemption What process do we have to look at the world? What basis or grounds or education do we have to understand the world around us? Why do people work? Why do we have to eat? Why do people need to get married? Why do humans start off as babies? Why do people die? Why do we have emotions? Why are some things beautiful and some things ugly? Why can music make us cry? Creation - Fall - Redemption When we understand these three items (in order) the world around and how it works will start to come clear. Over the next few days or weeks I am going to do my best to figure out how these three items shape our world.

http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2009/09/kids-dont-walk-because-parents-drive.html

9/13 Sermon Recap: (Matthew 6:19-24) A life without Jesus’ clear guidance and forgiveness is a life without freedom. Real freedom comes when we are slaves to Jesus Christ. Jesus taught that you can not serve two masters. It’s God or the world. The world is about success and selfishness. The world teaches us we need to stick up for ourselves and try to squeeze out as much happiness as we can. Jesus teaches that we need to quit running around trying to eek out happiness when true Joy comes only from our Heavenly Father. True joy and freedom come when we are with God. When we recognize God as the Creator and sustainer of life we then have the basis to live life fully. When we leave God out of any area of our life, we leave out the healing and guidance that we need. 9/20 Sermon: (Matthew 6:25-34) The title for the sermon this week is “What should I wear?” When I got the call to preach a try-out sermon here that was one of the first questions that I asked people. So I called...

I read this amazing book for my Seminary class involving Christian worldview. This book is about 400 pages and it is not a quick read. If you are someone who is interested in the development of thought through history - this is the book for you. Here is my complete book review. (If you are interested.) _______________________________________ Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity By Nancy Pearcey Crossway Books This book tells the story of the development of predominant Christian thought throughout the centuries. Pearcy covers the origins of worldview thinking from Aristotle to the modern thought process in today’s evangelical churches. In this one book there is a comprehensive journal of the evolution of thought and philosophy that is valuable for every person whom considers himself or herself a Christian. Pearcy gives us a fascinating formula for looking at the world around us and trying to bring everything to unison. Simply put, there is a reason ...

Success: the ability to get everything that you wanted and then not want it anymore

Jesus teaches a passage that states you can not serve both God and the world. Then He goes on to say that you will love one and hate the other one. I think that He is talking about the life that we recognize as the life that involves God at the center (God-Life) and the life that involves us or the world at the center (World-Life). It is very hard to be the same person in all situations. Jesus says that you have to. You don't even get to make the decision. It happens naturally. Unless, of course, you choose to "take every thought captive" and take control of your life. Who do you choose to be with each day that you are given? Do you spend time in both worlds (God-Life and World-Life)? If so, which one are you beginning to hate?

In four weeks at church we have gotten through one chapter - Matthew 5. It is the first chapter of one teaching that Jesus did called the Sermon on the Mount. I have already identified a HUGE theme that I had not seen prior to all the sermon prep that I have been doing. God doesn't just forgive us, he expects us to forgive everyone as well. Got that? God doesn't just forgive US, HE expects us to forgive EVERYONE. Jesus brings up mercy, reconciliation, agreeing with your adversary, staying out of court, turning the other cheek, going the second mile, and loving your enemies. In this week's message Jesus teaches us that we need to forgive people or we will not be forgiven. Read Matthew 6:15 if you think I'm off. Is there someone that you need to forgive (Matt 6:15) or be reconciled to (Matt 5:23-24)? Jesus' teaching here is intensely practical. He really believes that you will forgive everyone. We really believe that God will forgive everyone. God really bel...

The idea of "good enough" or "the best you can do" has been sticking with me since I taught on it a few weeks ago. Yesterday I had a hospital call in Champaign which is about 100 miles away. I drove up and had a very hard time finding the hospital. Then I tried for 40 minutes to find the family. I couldn't get a hold of them or find out if they were even in the hospital. I knew the patient was, but not the family. So I talked with the nurses and asked them what I should do. They said that they would tell the family I was there and that I could probably leave. I had had a long day the day before and was very tempted to take off. I had fulfilled my Pastorly obligation of going to the hospital. No one could fault me for trying right? Jesus taught us that there is a good way to do something and then their is the best way to do something. It's good to not murder someone. It's best to control your anger and act only in love. It's good to pray....

In (what we call) the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells his audience that they are to give, pray, and fast. Not new to us. We may not do it, but we know that we are supposed to. Jesus tells the people that gathered to see him that day to give, pray, and fast. He isn't telling them new information. They all knew that they were supposed to be doing these things. Most everyone that had come to hear him that day would have been very familiar with the Law and how they were to live. Jesus just took on the issues of divorce, adultery, murder, and more of the hot topics. Now He moves on to something much tamer, right? The Israelites knew they were to: -Give 10% of whatever they earn to God. -Pray at various times throughout the day. -fast. But, like with the issues he raised in his previous paragraph, He takes everything farther. Give, pray, and fast without letting anyone know that you are doing it. Why would he do that? Why did he do it then? What's it mean to us now?