timwolfe.org

What an amazing video. A friend with some BIG talent.

art, friends

Dr. Graham was my pastor in college at FBC West Palm Beach. He is a soul winner and bold communicator of the Word of God. When I was in college I use to call him the Nolan Ryan of Preacher’s. He had the following entry on his blog about Jim Elliot pretty good stuff. You can read the entry here from Dr. Graham’s BLOG!

friends, guest post

just a quick bog post a quick press. hope everyone has an amazing 4th of july week-end. our family is off to a good start of the week-end a super saturday filled with honey do’s and trips to the store. we will eat some home made pasta so the runners can card up. and than home made short cake and starwberries for our buddy Joe Sroka

on the 4th, sunday all the family but ariah and I will run the peachtree roadrace and than 1027church has picnic in john howell park 2 p.m. everybody bringing a covered dish – pot-luck . than our family will watch fire works at the ansley golf club.

be safe out there and have fun.

family, friends, holiday, random

man did i have some fun with my family on vacation this past week. today being monday is first day back to work and i’m ready to go.

big thanks to walt disney for the give a day, get day(volunteering in your city) which allowed my whole family to get a free tickets for one day fun day @waltdisneyworld.

thanks to my brother-in-law and his wife and family for letting us hang with them for three amazing days of world cup watching and beach and watching some city of ft. lauderdale recreation basketball games as my nephews sported their basketball skills. also enjoyed wednesday night @fbcft.lauderdale and briefly meeting @pastorlarry.

some good visits with some old friends ruth, sue and jimmy. and a quick tour of @pbau.

and a couple of days of resting and relaxing in tallahassee with my parents and their amazing pool, and quick movie @ the tallahassee mall and some worship @thewell.

good to be home to the ATL, @1027church and all my amazing friends and neighbors. it’s gonna be a super week!

family, friends, life

This past week I got to go to Exponential 2010 a church planting conference in Orlando, Florida. There were all kinds of amazing people there at the conference that God is using to impact the kingdom in BIG ways! All kinds of church planters, networks, missionaries and leaders at Exponential10. I had some great interaction with some of the Church Planting Team from North American Mission Board at a dinner Monday night, Good Stuff!

I got to attend some super break out sessions lead by people like Ed Stetzer, Alan Hirsch, the guys from ARC, Dave Gibbons and others. I listened and learned from super speakers from the platform during the main sessions of Exponential. I got to go to dinner Tuesday night with Dr. Jim Haskell the director of the Urban Atlanta Church Planting group and the UACP’ers Tuesday, what a super group of people. Great conversation.

I had lunch Tuesday with my friend Dave Patterson and Zach from an amazing church plant in Gainesville, FL – River Cross Church. Dave Patterson was a BIG encouragement to me and took the picture above of me Dave Gibbons. The group I rode down to Orlando with was made up of Georgia Baptist Church Planters and leaders was good too! Wednesday night I went to dinner with my friend Brian Hook who works with Bob Roberts and Vision 360. I have know Brian over 20 years and he was a big encouragement to me.

I feel like I’m learning so much right now from God’s word and His Spirit about making a difference in the city Atlanta with the gospel. Thanks God for a sweet week! Now I want to make you famous all over the city of Atlanta, my marriage, my family, in the UACP.net, 1027church, and neighbors!

Tim

church planting, friends, leadership

Today is Earth day, I have to confess that did not mean very much to me until my family moved to Midtown Atlanta in 2002. Now my wife was for sure already a head of the curb and probably much more green sooner.

But I will say the journey for my wife and I to care more about the creation of God has not been because it’s cool but because I believe God moved on our hearts. Over the years I think God has spoke into to our hearts on what it means to be a WHOLE follower of Jesus.

I would say over the past 3 years somebody who has befriended me and my family and 1027church Jonathan Merritt has taught us, modeled, and encouraged us about the responsibility of the follower of Jesus Christ to be take serious our stewardship responsibly for planet earth which is God’s creation. God even says in Genesis the all he creates is “GOOD!”

So my friend Jonathan who is amazing (pardon my man crush) has written a book – Green Like God – Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet. And it is a super book. Jonathan sent me an early copy to read and see what I thought, well before I could read it my mother-in-law who lives with us read it . . . loved it! Than my wife picked it up next before I could read it and she read it and loved it. Well I’m reading it and I love it.

So why is the book so good? Well it’s good because Jonathan is a good writer, he also shared in the book how God taught him to care about God’s creation and how the power of the Word of God, and the spirit of God spoke to him through God’s creation. Jonathan’s book has a very healthy, balanced and the super natural power of God in Jonathan’s life story. Not just a Christ follower trying to be cool or following some kinda of trend.

The book is also good because it has some super content besides Jonathan’s personal story! Chapter 9 for me is one of the BEST Chapters because in my opinion Jonathan did not write to book to be cool, to make Christians cool, but Jonathan is a prophet of God challenging you and I what are we gonna do about stepping up and taking care of GOD’s good creation. How are we doing in the area of stewardship with planet earth? The title of Chapter 9 say’s it all “The Enemy In Us All”

Page 116 is a very convicting statement of the book for me, for us all!

“Most of us live oblivious to any environmental crises so Americans rest easy. Unfortunately, our solace is like drinking rum in a snowstorm. We feel warm, but the warmth isn’t real. Ecological problems are bubbling up both at home and abroad. America has it’s share of environmental problems, and though many of them are localized to poorer neighborhoods and forgotten places, others intensely our children and us. Worse still, other people around the globe pay for the unsustainable life styles that Americans consider normal as we shift the burden to other nations’ citizens and export our way of life. As we realize the American dream. Much of the rest of the world is waking up to environmental nightmares.” – Jonathan Merritt – Green Like God

Wow that passage messes up my selfish life and heart. Jonathan thanks for writing such a GOOD BOOK! Thanks for showing me and our world what God says, for prophetically challenging my selfish desires, for encouraging me and others and loving us into to Godly stewardship of God’s creation. I’m telling everyone “Right Now” you better get out today or on-line and get u a copy of GREEN LIKE GOD and follow my friend @ JonathanMerritt.com and all he is doing.

Thanks God for Jonathan!

friends, leadership, life, the kingdom, worldview

okay, atlanta is not chicago, new york, or other cold city places. but it is snowing (don’t laugh so loud all you northern people) and people are flocking to my office starbucks for something good and warm. there is no room to sit down anywhere and people are not only standing in line for coffee but a place to park themselves in a chair.

so i was sitting at a table with three chairs. one for me, one for my computer sling pack, jacket, gloves and hat and one chair for the different people I meet with. so with it being packed you of course give up an empty chair, and you also move your stuff out of the empty ghost chair. but than you allow someone to sit at the same big table as you and work on their computer like you are working on your computer.

so what’s next do you talk to the person? do introduce yourself? do try to carry on a conversation? why do you even have to ask those questions, the answers are yes, yes, and yes. why because people matter to God! and they should matter to me. so i have a new friend on a snowy day @ starbucks.

friends, life, missions, random

for years now and not just at christmas, my wife and i have been throwing parties. as a matter of fact my wife pam loves to go to parties and throw them. i think it’s part of her italian culture and the area she grew up in is and was a very communial environment. parties are fun and at my house my wife can throw down on some good food even beyond the traditional italian fare and my widow mother-in-law lives with us and she can cook like heck too!
so it’s almost Christmas and it’s time to party, time to spend a few minutes with people we work with, play sports with, our neighbors, people we go to church with and people we want to get to know better.
parties a re great reason to slow down and have an awesome conversation about people’s lives. hear their stories, adventures and sometimes find out you have so much more in common with them than you know. it’s also just a lot of fun to gather people around good food and a desire to be good neighbors.
you know the Bible talks about loving your neighbor, the tim translation would be neighbors. a pastor by the name of bill hybels says, you have never locked eyes with someone who does not matter to God. i believe i continue to learn how important people are and God continues to put a deep, thick, passionate Love in my heart for Him and people.
so we are excited about those coming tonight, and we pray they have a great time. if you are close can drop in come on by it starts at 6:30 p.m. come and go.
I pray everyone would recieve the gift of God this Christmas his Son Jesus our savor.
Merry Christmas!

friends, holiday

good morning atlanta,

it’s tuesday and i’m in my usual place starbucks. coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and they are pretty good. but as i was going through the line this morning God opened a window to be a small part of an act of kindness (i not trying to sound my own horn or pat myself on the back.)

what i’m humbly trying to say is i think the kingdom of God is taking care of people our neighbors through at least ten thousand different ways. i believe God wants us taking care of our next store neighbors, neighbors down the street, in our community, or in our city or even the world.

so maybe one might say where do i start? good question! maybe it’s just introducing yourself to somebody or maybe walking across the street or the room to borrow a good title from bill hybels. praying for somebody, buying an unexpected cup of coffee, doing something that might interrupt your schedule or seem like an inconvenience. invite somebody over for a meal or invite several people over.

it’s just amazing how to me how God can use food and coffee – his kingdom come his will be done!

have a great day!

friends, life

okay, over the last few weeks (maybe even a month) i have been processing something. okay, maybe somethings. i have not pulled them (thoughts) all together or, honestly, i’m not sure i have complete understanding from the Father yet. but here are few things i’m processing.

* call to ministry – iron man call

* disciples – making disciples, discipleship, missional disciples

* simplicity

maybe over the next week few weeks i will share what i’m learning.

oh, by the way, shout to my friend kris mcdaniel at the trinity vinyard – atl. thanks for the friendship and the word from the lord – 50 years in the vinyard.

church planting, friends, leadership