Tim Boyd's Blog

It was my turn to give the devotion for our Upwords Basketball League today.  I gave the same devotion 4 times at the half time of each game.  I proudly donned my Nebraska Cornhuskers 2009 season Coaches Shirt (black).  It was only the second set of games that we had so there had only been one other devotion given. I decided to go with Proverbs 22:6.  It went something like this: Proverbs 22:6 tells us to "train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it."  We don't really have to much trouble with the first part of that.  It makes sense.  We know that kids need to be trained.  We have all seen kids that live around our neighborhood that need to be trained.  We understand that we need to help our kids understand how to function in this world and be successful in life. But the verse doesn't stop there.  What about "in the way that they should go?"  I have a friend by the name of Dave...

There are lots of songs that deal with Heaven.  The best, of course, is Guns & Roses " Knockin' on Heaven's Door ."  This was first performed by Bob Dylan and then covered again by Eric Clapton .  Clapton wrote "Tears in Heaven" after the tragic death of his son.  Everyone from aging rocker Bryan Adams to Warrant , to the Los Lonely Boys have discussed Heaven in some way.   Kenny Chesney stated that "Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to go now." So what is Heaven?  Is it a lot like earth, but better?  Is it a place where we sit on clouds and play harps?  Will we know other people in Heaven?  Is Heaven boring, because all the fun people are in Hell? What are your thoughts on Heaven?  What have you been told that you believe or don't believe? This will also be my facebook status to see if there are any responses there.  Please tell me what you have heard. Tim Boyd Create Your Badge

Here is a link to a post by a guy I went to high school with.  He is a Catholic Priest.  We are different, but a few things remain the same.   http://whitearoundthecollar.blogspot.com/2010/03/heath-care-reform-repost-of-old-homily.htm l

So I am watching " Life " on the Discovery channel.  The video is amazing.  It is really great that these people were able to get, probably, the greatest events in the world captured so that everyone can watch it.  The thing that is really bothering me is the audio.  It is all about ingenuity and adaptability.  It is all about evolution.  There is no reference to "created" or "creation" or anything to do with the God who created all these amazing animals. I guess that sounds about right.  Humans are so amazed at themselves.  We, as a society, think that we have risen to the top and are the best of the best.  We believe that there is nothing better than us.  We are the geniuses that have survived.  We are the adaptable ones.  That is a lie. We are created in the image of God, by God.  All these animals are a testament to the amazingness of the Creator.  Amazing video, but they have really missed the point.  Th...

To prepare for the sermon on Revelation chapter 19 I have been reading about ancient wedding customs.  It's really interesting.  We have lots of wedding customs and some weddings are very lavish.  There are huge weddings with large wedding parties that make it to TV.  But they aren't even close to the standard of Weddings a few millenia ago. This understanding will also help us read through all the wedding language that Jesus spoke in. So here's a quick taste of how a wedding, marriage, and party went. 1.  The groom would leave his father's house and go to the bride's house. 2. The groom would pay a "purchase" price to the father for his new bride. 3. They would then drink wine from a cup to legalize this and make a new covenant. 4. The man and woman were then legally married, but the husband would return to his own father's house in order to set up a room for him and his wife.  This may take up to a YEAR! 5. The bride was betrothed and woul...

Music is a language all it's own and it fascinates me.  I have no musical ability.  I can not hear music and pick out anything.  I can barely distinguish between the sound of the piano and the guitar.  When God was giving us gifts, music was not one that came to me.  That's fine.  I don't have to make it or understand to be moved by it.  The song that has recently been playing in my head is Fidelity by Regina Spektor.  The first verse goes like this: I never loved nobody fully Always one foot on the ground And by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the soun I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind all these words I hear in my mind all this music What a sad and beautiful statement.  I can not fully love my wife if I have a back-up plan.  When I asked her to marry me, I laid it all out there.  I didn't tell her to think about and come back to me if she thinks nothing better would come along.  I think that's why ...

Oh Cowden - you rule!  We are taking a little loss on the sale of our house so we need to get a small personal loan to cover the loss.  We are hoping to pay it all off by this fall.  Anywho... So Mindy calls Bank of America this morning and talks with them for more than 30 minutes and is transferred 6 times!!!!  No one was able to answer her simple question. So I walked to down to the bank.  Yah, I walked to the bank.  Stepped in to an office and explained my situation face-to-face in about 3 minutes.  He replied that they could help.  I asked how long it would take and he said, "How long do you want it to take?"  So I am going to see what the final balance is after the sale is finalized and walk to the bank and get the loan.  This all (walk included) took about 15 minutes. Cowden is better than your town.  I don't really even care what your town is.  Cowden is better.  I thoroughly endorse our local Shelby County Ba...

This past Friday I had the honor of performing a wedding for our next-door neighbors.  They asked me on the previous Friday if I could come talk to them.  Then they preceded to ask me if I would officiate their wedding.  I asked them how they met, why they wanted to get married, and when they were hoping to do the ceremony.  The story was very atypical and wonderful. My neighbors knew each other a long time ago and their lives went on different paths.  A few years ago he was working in another state and making decent money.  He was part owner of a small construction company and he was building houses when the economy was doing very well.  He said that his life was very lonely and he hated going home to his empty house. Her story was one of heartbreak and dreams unfulfilled.  She is a very giving woman and takes care of her children.  She needed to get away for a while and her friend suggested that they go out and see him.  They went ...

Hey my blogger account got hacked this morning.  I had to change my password and there were google ads all over.  Interesting.

Go to www.Cowdenchurch.org then click on "podcast" at the top of the page. Then look for the "subscribe" button. From there you will easily be able to connect to the podcast. I am sorry about moving around so much, but the free place quit working, then this place wants to charge me. Now I am moving it to iTunes so that it will be free and it is the most recognized format.

My last blog entry was on Monday and that was one of the toughest days that I have had in a loooong time.  Mindy and I realized that we simply could not pay our mortgage for another month.  We needed to sell the house.  We have been trying to sell the house for 11 months.  We have had over 150 showings.  We have been paying the mortgage 500 miles away for 7 months.  It has burnt through so much money each month. We have not had an offer on it.  That was Monday. Then came Tuesday.  We got an offer on our house.  No joke.  11 months no offer.  150 showings no offer.  Then the day after we realize we simply can not go on we get an offer.  My God provides.  I wrote those words, my God provides, on Tuesday morning before we accepted the offer on our house.  My God provides. Unbelievable.  That was the only word I could say all day Wednesday.  Wednesday was the day we got the contract signed for the house...

What good is a blog if you won't share your personal story?  Here is the tension that I have been living with for a while now.  Please understand that I don't spend a lot of my time griping and feeling sorry for myself.  I don't make it a habit to whine about money and then get people to give it to me.  Outside of my time in high school I don't think that money has ever really been that important to me.  With that said... I understand that I am rich (relatively speaking).  I can eat food and drink clean water.  I sleep on a comfortable bed with a roof over my head.  I own two vehicles.  I can clothe my family.  I have heating and air conditioning available. I also understand that I do not have as much money as I would like.  My family has not been on a "real" vacation.  Ever.  We rely on special gifts from people and Christmas time to shop for clothes.  My wife watches sales like crazy to stock up on clothes for t...

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