http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Blog.html Curious what I’ve been up to? This blog can keep you posted. Read about how my kids and me are growing. Be encouraged by the faithful saints here. Be inspired to change your own life, and influence others to fervently obey the gospel. Hmmm...well I don’t necessarily know my blog will be interesting enough to induce all those things, but you should do them anyways! Love you guys! Tim. iWeb 2.0.4 http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Blog_files/IMG_0730.jpg http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Blog.html http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2010/1/12_Vacate_the_premise.html 1b0ade1a-0836-44c9-be2b-83f4bbb498fa Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:21:56 -0500 Do you like to travel on your holiday vacation? I do. Which is good because I really don’t have a choice. I’ve found that if i want my vacation to be a vacation I need to leave the state, otherwise I will still have the same amount of responsibilities and work. That might summarize what I find to be the most tiring about my work. Though I am sincerely blessed to do what I do for a living, sometimes it’s hard because I feel that I’m responsible for everything in everyone else’s life. i can’t just go to church or Bible class. I’m responsible for telling people, planning the trip, picking people up, etc... When I get there, I have even more responsibilities to people there. I could complain more, but the point is, I just get a little tired of needing to be in charge all the time. Therefore, if I want to get away from that, I’ve got to get as far away from the city as possible, which is what I did this December. Boy was it nice. Another important thing: when I got home, I realized that my kids were doing pretty well at taking care of themselves. There were certain classes and opportunities they couldn’t do, but for the most part they were taking charge of their own lives. Wow. That’s pretty awesome. Even since I’ve been able to lay more responsibilities upon them when needed. This improvement will help me continue in my work, and continue enjoying my work. http://web.me.com/hermano_tim/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/9/10_Things_are_Getting_out_of_hand.html 9b351f0b-029f-43dd-b84e-25c374a60ab0 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:17:03 -0400 Have you ever said that? Probably. Or you at least think it frequently. Things are getting out of hand up here as well. When I first started teaching full time, I was working with a small handful of kids that enjoyed going to church, and really worked hard with a bigger handful that would come every now and then. Two years later, almost all of those kids are now VERY faithful and committed to Christ. I was lucky to be able to spend so much one-on-one time with each individual. What about now? We’ve got a whole new batch of kids on top of the kids we’ve already got. This is making one-on-one time more difficult. These kids are bringing all of their worldliness into our midst. They bring bad attitudes. They bring bad language. Now we even have some severely violent histories mixed in. Things are getting out of hand. How do Roger and I keep track on these things? How do we control the situation to make sure everything runs smoothly? Well, the hard truth is we don’t. God does. Yes, we’ve got to step it up and push our godly influence even harder than before, yes, we’ve got to draw a hard line of what we will tolerate being said or done, but what really needs to be controlled is the hearts of these young and confused Bible students. That’s where God steps in. I can act like a police man and regulate what jokes are told in my presence, but God can act like a father and impress someone to regulate themselves when in the presence of their old school friends. We are in a time of needed faith. I need to believe that God can change these new (and seemingly more troubled) Bible students. Things are out of my hands, but we all lie nestled in the palm of God’s hand. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/8/19_Variables_and_Controls.html 856ff9af-a8ae-4224-af3e-e0eb0ea804bc Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:29:47 -0400 Well it’s been a while. I can’t even describe how busy and unorganized life is. It’s a good thing that it’s under God’s control. I know that more assuredly now than ever before. If you’ve been reading my reports, you would know that there have been some language issues at the Spanish congregation where I teach the youth. The Spanish speaking adults feel like the young English speaking Christians are growing in number and the elder members feel like they are losing control. I can easily understand this. We’ve been so separate from the rest of the congregation that I feel as if we should be paying rent. The congregation wants to fix that. And I do too. So they removed all the English classes. AH! That’s not exactly what I had in mind. Where does that leave me? In my room working on my Rosetta Stone. They did decide to allow me to teach on Tuesday nights, but no more Sunday mornings. Now the kids and I feel as if we’ve lost control. Our previous distant behavior and their recent compulsive behavior have both been selfish an inappropriate. And notice how all our actions are rooted in our desire to have control. God doesn’t want us to feel that way because it just isn’t true. We are never in control and a quick traumatic experience learns you real well. The young Christians and I have peaceably submitted to the leader’s authority without complaining. The adults have compromised and made new adjustments. The result is God controls us with Christian love and everyone will win. Especially God. We need to remember that this isn’t our church and we aren’t running it. Let God take control. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/7/8_New_Jersey_Camp_2009.html bc115bac-bef8-49a0-a415-310e7126cf56 Wed, 8 Jul 2009 14:36:15 -0400 We waited and waited...and now camp has already come and gone. Now we’re waiting for next year. This was a pretty significant year of camp. It was most definitely the most spiritually minded camp I’ve ever been to. I’m so proud of how much my kids have grown this past year. Last year we were working so hard to try to pull them along. This year they are the ones pushing each other along. They saw this as an opportunity to reach out to those that aren’t as spiritually strong as they are, and they were effective. The post-camp-hype has led Chris, Jabes, Jeffrey, Melissa, Daleska, Maribel, Madalyne, Yareli, and others to start coming to church. It’s our job now to solidify their new faith and interest into something more substantial. Sometimes is happens instantly. Sometimes it takes a year or two. Sometimes it never happens. But now is the time that really matters. Now that we’ve got their attention, we’ve got to surround with good influences, prayer, singing, and Bible teaching. Roger’s tactic of having summer long sleepovers won over several kids that are still faithful today. We got to do the same thing this year as well. Pray that we can guide these young hearts to Christ. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/5/23_Blind_Faith_2.html 65d81704-ab4f-4083-8dbc-ba47c7a94637 Sat, 23 May 2009 02:11:54 -0400 I grew up in a Christian home. I learned of God while I learned to speak. I’ve seen how to walk with God by example for many years now. God, teach me to be grateful. I’ve been learning the harsh truth of the challenges a new Christian faces. To me, the answers seem simple. Of course it’s not easy to live completely obedient, but the right path is always clear. This just isn’t true for babes in Christ. No matter what shakes my faith, I feel confident that God will lead me back to Him. That’s because my ENTIRE life is based upon Him. That’s not to brag. That’s just saying that if I decide to forsake Him, I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of me (find new career, find new friends, find new family, etc...). A young Christian doesn’t have this commodity. They are starting their life from scratch when the resolve to follow Christ. I’ve heard it described as such: going to the gym isn’t so bad when we’re in the habit, but miss a couple times, and you’ve got to drag yourself back. A young Christian is in the process of forming new habits and lifestyles with their new commitment to Christ. Any missteps can be as challenging as returning to the gym after a few misses. I’m not sure if I’ve sufficiently expressed myself, but one thing is clear. WE MUST NOT TAKE OUR YOUNG CONVERTS FOR GRANTED. They live in such dangerous times. Satan is conniving and hungry. He will find opportunity if we don’t shower our babes with love, hound them with exhortation, and sustain them with unceasing support. Every new convert’s needs are more important than your own. If you aren’t in a “do or die” situation, find someone who is, and help them stay in the narrow way. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/5/19_Blind_Faith.html 0d6a3314-4208-4658-b6fb-cc6ede8d8d20 Tue, 19 May 2009 13:26:14 -0400 Faith is a funny thing. It’s believing in something that can’t be proven, but we won’t believe unless there’s proof. Faith begins with believing in God’s existence, and ends with trusting in His providence. God is pleased by our faith, so He remains unseen, but has supplied us with sufficient proof; yet, if we rely too heavily on the need to make His existence incontrovertible through proof, we have missed the point. The greatest Christian scholars of all time will never prove Gods existence simply because He has chosen to remain unproven providing the opportunity for faith. If God allows there to be some question concerning His existence, there will be equivalent challenges concerning His providence. It’s hard for us to trust His providence because often times we don’t agree with His decisions. When He leads our lives in a direction we don’t necessarily like, we are tempted to doubt that there really is a supreme being orchestrating our lives at all. When our heart doubts, our minds begin to reason. Our minds reason with human wisdom which is unable to comprehend God’s plan. Our minds can come up with plenty of reasons to doubt the Lord. Pretty soon we’ve lost a great deal of faith. It is at this time that our faith is most crucial. We pray to God for more faith, but what we really mean is we want more proof. “Lord, give me proof that you are providentially guiding me, then I’ll continue to believe in you.” We must know that God won’t give us more proof. He’s done enough. Do you think Abraham had enough human wisdom to doubt God’s command to sacrifice his son? I think so. Did God supply Abraham with more proof? No. God decided that Isaac’s miraculously delayed birth was sufficient. Abraham thought so too. His FAITH conquered his earthly wisdom. When we come to the point that our reasoning can argue against our faith, we need to remember that God has already proven Himself to us. We don’t need more proof. We need more faith. God doesn’t expect us to believe in Him with blind faith, but He does expect us to blindly follow Him after we believe upon Him. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/4/7_the_love_of_Money_is_the_root_of_all_evil.html 781fabc3-ca73-4a8a-ab06-95d8d8fe9dc4 Tue, 7 Apr 2009 14:18:23 -0400 ...and that’s why it’s so awkward to ask for it. I’m a young Bible teacher trying to transition for college student to adult. I still by clothes at thrift stores. I still find all my furniture off the street. I’m fine with being cheap, but life in general isn’t cheap. With my car, insurance, apartment, etc. i find myself needing more finances. This is tough. Where’s the line between saving money and being materialistic? I feel like i have enough to get by, but what about the day I’ve got to pay for a kid? It doesn’t make sense to start saving then. I guess I need to be making enough money so I can save now, but I don’t like the idea of the money churches give me is money that can’t be used for other needy teachers. I continually seek the counsel of experienced Bible teachers and God to ensure that I’m making the right choices financially. http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2009/1/2_Hospitality.html e1997015-e9f4-4b3c-bd08-73aa64f11742 Fri, 2 Jan 2009 13:32:01 -0500 I relearned the meaning of hospitality this past week. Gary Fisher was leading a several day Bible study in Indiana over the book of Isaiah. About 100 people came, and many were not locals. It was like a Christian Woodstock, but all these people needed a place to stay. I rode down in a van with 13 people. We arrived at the Churchill’s at 2:00 am. They gave us a place to sleep that night. Around 7:00 that morning another 5 people arrived, but Nancy Churchill was ready with a big warm breakfast to get us ready for the Bible study that day. Over the next three nights we stayed overnight with other Christians. Every household showed us such good care and hospitality. When I finally got home, my parent’s let three of the girls stay over so they could see some of their Christian friends and go to more Bible studies before their winter break ended. I’ve realized that hospitality is so important, because we would miss out on some amazing experiences if there weren’t others selfless enough to give of themselves to give others these great opportunities. I learned so much this week. I was humbled and motivated. I grew even closer to my friends and students. I would hate to think about missing all these things, but I was only fortunate enough to have all these things because someone else was willing to make it possible for me. Thanks for all the hospitality! Thanks for the great life God! http://www.hermanotim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2008/12/18_Weaker_Vessels.html 9e866a47-cc0f-441b-b047-b1b34ce3e778 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:16:04 -0500 I Peter 3:7 commands husbands to care for their wives as if they are weaker vessels. This is an encouragement for husbands to protect, nourish, and support their wives as if she was a delicate precious flower. This isn’t teaching that women are weak, but just trying to tell men how to love their wives. However, I’m starting to realize that women are weak, and so are men. I’m weak, sometimes my parents are weak, my friends are weak, and (most significantly to me) my students are weak. The longer I live the more obligated I am to be strong, but the closer I feel to the verge of falling apart. Humans are a troubled breed in a troubled world. Don’t think that you are the only person struggling. Don’t be fooled into thinking the apparently upright have figured everything out. We are all weak and we all need love, care, and support. Find someone that can use your love, and share it with them. Find someone that can give you love, and let them love you. Most importantly, go to God, and let Him take care of you (before you fall apart). http://www.HermanoTim.com/Hermano_Tim/Blog/Entries/2008/10/23_Burning_Rubber.html 98fee9dd-cc32-4a8a-8075-9794bdd1cd1f Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:52:16 -0400 Being a Bible teacher poses some interesting challenges. Not only do I have to play my own boss, but I’m trying to achieve such a vague incalculable goal: the spiritual betterment of the world. It is difficult to know day by day how much is enough. When have I put forth sufficient effort? Am I as effective as i can possibly be? What should I be doing better? It really just comes down to me and the Good Lord above. Somedays I wake up ready to work, and ineffectively spin my wheels all day long. My brain isn’t as absorbent. My computer is having issues. Classes cancel. These past two days are a good example. I spent some time with Emily and the girls from Newark, and then head back to the city. I take it easy knowing I have a class later that day. I take my car out of my parking spot and join the traffic on the Hudson heading towards the Bronx. After fifteen minutes of traffic I get a text telling me that my class is canceled. I creep towards the next exit and head back home. 50 minutes later I’m back in a parking spot. The next morning I have to move the car during the street cleaning (which I could’ve avoided had I not moved my car the previous day). Then I spend a couple hours working on my computer, when it freaks out and loses all that I was working on. An hour after that, both of my classes for the day canceled. What do you do with days like these? Beats me. Just keep praying that the Good Lord can make me effective in accomplishing his work (and that my supporting churches are merciful knowing that we all have bad days). Love you guys! Pray everyday!