Where's Tim?

"Where's Tim?" These are the words from my two-year-old, Luke, that I've heard nearly every day for the past two months. "Who's Tim," you ask? Well, Tim Radcliff is a new friend of mine and yesterday he finished a two-month church planting internship with the BFC at New Beginnings.

Tim was literally my shadow from June 1, 2010, to July 25, 2010. He did a little bit of everything during his internship, except perhaps my laundry (don't think that I didn't consider having him do that though). Tim assisted with many practical tasks like office work and mailings, as well as some more specialized skills like preaching a sermon and leading a Bible study. He did some community demographics work and even went door-to-door conducting a face-to-face survey with over 80 people. He was a huge help when the TFE (Teams for Evangelism) group from Bethel BFC (Emmaus, PA) came down. If you've ever been to New Beginnings then you know that there's never a dull moment around here. I think Tim has a pretty good understanding of this now. For a small church we can sure cram a lot into eight weeks, huh Tim?

I am especially going to miss our weekly dinners with Tim over at the house. Gabbie and Luke came to love Tim. He was great with them. I'm also going to miss our Playstation 2 matchups on MLB 2009 and NCAA 2011. For the record, I crushed him in baseball and, come to think of it, I forget how things turned out with the football game we played this past week...

Seriously, I am very glad that Tim came to Woodbury Heights this summer. We had a chance to celebrate his last day at church yesterday with a nice cake and great conversation about many of the lessons he learned. The Apostle Paul writes to his young protege (who happened to also be named Timothy) in 2 Timothy 2:1-2, "You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Well, I'm not sure how much I was able to really teach Tim during the past eight weeks. It is my honest prayer that he was able to observe some Christlike characteristics in my life. I pray that he has been exposed to the heart of a loving pastor and evangelist. I also hope he's learned "what not to do" through patiently enduring many of my failures. I know that I am certainly going to miss him.

Father, please bless Tim in his future ministry. Help him to remain teachable and patient with others. Continue to fill his mind with Your Word, and help there to never be a disconnect between that knowledge and his heartfelt obedience. Please bless he and Kaylena in their upcoming marriage. May Your face shine upon them and be merciful to them. Thank you for the time You gave Tim to New Beginnings. Amen.

BY THE WAY, VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL STARTS TONIGHT AT NEW BEGINNINGS AT 6 PM. IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN IN GRADES K TO 6TH AND YOU'RE IN THE AREA, COME ON OUT FOR ALL THE GREAT FUN AND LEARNING!