my son

world, meet grayson grigsby blake.

5 pounds, 12 ounces, 18.5 inches long.

full head of hair. super cute.

:)

- tim

Anticipation, a baby, and the second coming

So for the last week or so there's one word that describes my life: ANTICIPATION.

Waiting for baby Blake to be born has been the most anxiety-ridden, excitement-filled, nerve-wrenching time of my life. I can't remember any other time in my life, other than maybe right before I proposed to Trisha and right before we got married, when I have been this sweaty-palm-anxious.

I literally haven't been sleeping. I'll wake up several times in the middle of the night just to look over at Trisha and see if she's asleep, awake, in labor, etc. The worst part is the not knowing. He could come at any time, and while I think I'm ready, I have to keep my mind set on his arrival.

Wait. Am I still talking about my baby?

The thing is, I'm really learning a lot of what it means to wait with anticipation for Jesus' return. I'm sorry to say that when I think about the arrival of baby Blake I really experience a wide range of emotions that I've never tied to the arrival of Jesus. But now that I'm experiencing them I'm beginning to tie together the two experiences in ways that are opening up my eyes and heart to a new reality.

He is coming again. Maybe in my lifetime, maybe not. It could be in the middle of the night. It could be before I finish this sentence. It could be a million years from now. But He IS coming.

I'm excited.

- Tim B.

Beautiful Things

This song is beautiful! I'm learning how to play it and can't wait to try it out in worship.

- Tim

Love?

(This is from a group devotion I did at our Valentine's Day party at FBC Youth!)

What is love? It's a question that poets and songwriters specialize in, and the rest of us just kind of fumble our way around. When it comes to what love really is, most of us just best-guess our way into it, and then either desperately cling to what we believe "love" is or move on to something better when we realize that what we held wasn't really love at all.

The problem is that we have no reference point for what love is really all about. It's sort of like if I had a blank canvas and asked you to paint it. You would ask "what color do you want me to paint it." I would respond "Philly. Paint it Philly." After you made sure you heard me right, you would realize that Philly is not a color you'd ever heard of before. If you went ahead and painted that canvas the color you thought I might be talking about when I said "Philly", you would be only guessing your way through it.

If I told you "Philly" was actually a shade of red, here's what might have happened. You might have made a really good guess. You may have picked out a shade of red, or pink, or even orange - which isn't too far off. Your canvas may look a lot like what I intended it to be, but odds are it isn't exactly right. More likely is that you were way off - maybe you went for a blue, or yellow, or off-white, or black. The point is that you may have convinced yourself that "Aha! This is what love - sorry - Philly is, so I'm going to paint it this color!" but the truth is that you aren't even close to being right.

The point is this. God made you relational. He made you to love - Him first, then others. And because He designed you in a very specific way, He has a very specific plan for you when it comes to romance, sexuality, and love. When was the last time you actually asked God to define what love is for you?

1 John 3:16 lays it out perfect - "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us..."

Here's the deal: You simply CANNOT know what love is without knowing Jesus. You may best-guess your way in to something that looks a lot like what God intends love to look like. But without having a reference point - a compass that points true north when it comes to love - you'll never fully live in the amazing story God wants to write with your life.

So do you know what love is? Do you know who Jesus is and what He did for humanity?

"Greater love has no one than this..." - John 15:13. Look it up and read the rest on your own.

Happy Valentine's Day!

- Tim

reading is good

as a staff we're reading the book "good to great in god's eyes" by chip ingram. today's chapter that we discussed in staff meeting was called "read great books", and our discussion centered on the importance of reading great christian works in addition to studying scripture.

i'm super-passionate about reading because i really believe in the ability books/articles/blogs/etc. have to shape both your view of god and how you live your life. i really hate it when people don't pick up a book simply because they "don't like to read". in his book, ingram says that "God himself appreciates the value of books, as evidenced by the fact that he chose to reveal himself to us in a collection of them." another favorite author/speaker/teacher of mine, dave ramsey, always says that "one year from now you'll be the same person you are today except for the books you read and the people you meet."

if you want to grow in your faith, personal life, relationships, profession, etc., you've got to read books!

here is a list of books that have been formative in my life in the last ten years. you may want to check some of them out!

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Theology/doctrine:
Mere Christianity - CS Lewis
Simply Christian - NT Wright
desiring god - john piper
theology for today - elmer towns
across the spectrum - boyd & eddy
Lectures in systematic theology - henry thiessen

Christian Living/Spiritual Development:
The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother lawrence
the unquenchable worshiper; facedown - matt redman
every man's battle - arterburn, stoeker, yorkey
experiencing god - henry and richard blackaby
live like a jesus freak - various
blue like jazz; searching for god knows what; a million miles in a thousand years - donald miller
he chose the nails - max lucado
i am not but i know i am - louie giglio
peace with god - billy graham

Marriage/Relationships:
sacred marriage - gary thomas
when god writes your love story - eric and leslie ludy
boy meets girl - joshua harris

Ministry/Church:
to know you more: cultivating the heart of a worship leader - andy park
purpose driven youth ministry - doug fields
what matters most - doug fields
conspiracy of kindness - steve sjogren
church re-imagined; preaching re-imagined - doug pagitt
emerging church; they like christians but not the church - dan kimball
the be with factor - bo boshers
simple church; simple student ministry - eric geiger, et.al.
contemplative youth ministry - mark yaconelli

Fiction/Allegory:
in his steps - charles sheldon
the screwtape letters; the chronicles of narnia - cs lewis
a tale of three kings - gene edwards
pilgrim's progress - john bunyan

biography/life stories:
the narrow road - brother andrew
jesus freaks; foxe's book of martyrs - various

miscellaneous:
the message bible - eugene peterson
total money makeover - dave ramsey