TimHowey.Com

Bailout Mess Continues

The financial bailout mess has lead to this money grab.

Sounds like it's time for those companies to award their CEOs some bonuses for leading their companies to fiscal ruin...NOT!

Meet Pastor Timmy Gibson

I had the chance to buy lunch for Pastor Timmy Gibson of Olathe Life Fellowship today.  It was awesome time!

I absolutely LOVE hearing what God is doing in someone's life, in their family, & in their church.

(Does his story sound familiar?)  Pastor Timmy & I have the same name, are the same age, were married around the same time, have kids about the same age, are both senior pastors, are planting a church in the same Southern Johnson County area, are renting a school for worship services, & are renting some office space.  In addition, their church has been around for around 5 years, gone through some major cultural changes, experienced some significant membership turnover, and they are on the brink of looking at some land.  (Wow...I remember those days!)

Moreover, there are former members of Grace Church at Olathe Life...and vice-versa!

If you want an easy way to tell us apart, just remember that he's the one that looks like a male model...& I'm the nerd.  :-)

Be praying for them as they take on the next steps of spiritual growth & development of their church family!

P.S. We met because I walked up to him at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit and introduced myself.  He looked TOTALLY SHOCKED and said, "YOU are the pastor of Grace Church???  I thought you were an OLD man with GRAY hair!!!"  :-)

 

Pastors Overnight

I'm PUMPED about the next 24 hours!  Our 5 pastors are gathering together & getting away for some serious prayer & planning.  Our pastors retreats have a LOT of laughter, candor, & very "spirited" debates.  :-)  It's the kind of camaraderie that only comes from guys COMMITTED to transparent sharing & receiving of ideas.

I LOVE these guys & how God works through us together.  Our model is Acts 13:1-4.  Check it out (& pray for us)!

What DO you do?

Every once in a while, someone will ask me, "What DO you do, as a pastor?"

I think people's perspectives range from the "monk-ish" (i.e. Spending 7-8 hours/day in prayer & meditation) to the "vacation-ish" (i.e. You only work 1 hour/week, don't you?  Works well for your golf game!).

Aside from administrative duties and working hard to spend time alone with God, the bulk of my week is committed to 2 things.  (1) Meeting with / touching people.  (2) Studying.

Case in point.  Wednesday was an AWESOME day.  A day just like so many of you have.  A day of meetings & touching people.  The meetings ranged from leading my morning Men's Small Group, to reviewing 2007 goals, to listening to 2008 ministry proposals, to reviewing the Perspectives Exposure campaign, to the weekend services.  Here was my meeting schedule yesterday:

• 7:00-8:30a
• 8:30-9:30a
• 9:30-9:45a
• 9:45-11:30a
• 11:30-12:00p
• 12:00-12:15p - Admin Time (alone in my office)
• 12:30-1:30p
• 1:30-2:00p
• 2:00-2:45p
• 2:45-3:00p
• 3:00-4:00p
• 4:00-5:30p
• 5:30-5:45p
• 5:45-6:00p
• 6:00-6:30p - Down Time (a breather in my office)
• 6:30-7:15p
• 7:15-8:15p - Ignite Worship Night
• 8:15-9:15p
• 9:15-10:00p

For those of you who think this is a whine session, you COULDN'T be further from the truth.  It's a PRIVILEGE to be able to hear people share their hearts, touch people, help people discern what God is doing, & live life together!

Today's schedule started with a 6:30-8:15a 2008 ministry proposal meeting.  For the rest of day, I'm hopeful I must focus on study for the weekend.  :-)  The title is "Taming the Tempest: Weathering Storms of the Heart."  We're talking about the HUGELY important (& misunderstood!) topic of child discipline.  I believe God is going to clear off some space to provide clarity, hope, & direction to families (& for everyone to understand how God disciplines US as HIS children!).

L8R.

Pastors Bowling Competition

Our pastors had a night out together with our wives last month.  We had a bowling competition.  I waited so long to post about it because of the pain induced when I reported on our mini-golf competition back in July.  :-)

Just like last time, I'm not going to write who won (Tim).  That would be inappropriate.

You can click on the scorecards to see a larger version.

P.S. Make sure you congratulate Ben for edging Jim in game #2.  I believe I finally witnessed a good old-fashioned "gnashing of teeth" of biblical proportions.  :-)

Quotes of the Day

Got back from a 36-hour pastor's retreat late last night.  We had a great time of prayer & praise together, sharing our hearts together, & looking off into the future together.

I thought I'd give you some quotes (to the best of my recollection) from the event:

• "Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes, be the center of our lives." ("Center" by Charlie Hall)
• "In what ways is the enemy seeking to get to you or moving you to make agreements contrary to God’s truth?"
• "A congregation designed around a straightforward process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth."
• "Hurt people hurt people."
• "As a church family, we each have been entrusted with a mountain of giftedness, ability, & resources.  What a sobering responsibility & incredible opportunity to make an impact for God's kingdom!"

Meet Pastor Greg Axe

I had lunch with Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church in KCK recently.  I've known Greg for many years now and our churches used to partner together in ministries such as basketball & softball.

I asked him if there was anything I (or "we," my blog-friends) could pray for them.  He said sure:

• Crest Bible Church is worshiping in a building built during the '50's, which they love.  But they believe God has more for them.  Please pray that Crest Bible Church can design their next facility, raise the funds, and expand their ministry offerings for KCK, a community which is experiencing "church-flight" (churches closing down or moving out of the urban core to the suburbs).
  

P.S. If you haven't guessed it, I love meeting with pastors, hearing their stories, sharing what God is doing, and trying to encourage them!

Pastor Golden Davis - Chemo Update

I had the chance to swing by the Kansas City Cancer Center in Overland Park on Wednesday and saw Pastor Golden Davis of Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church and his wife April.  I took a quick snapshot of them with my phone (you can click on the photo for a full-sized look).

I documented his original cancer treatment plan here.  The only change is they are waiting until he finishes chemo to start radiation.

Today, he is finishing his 2nd of 4 rounds of Mon-Fri chemotherapy.  He is the first to arrive in the morning, gets his pick of reclining chairs, and is the last to leave in the evenings.

When I probed a little bit, he told me that Wed-Sun are his worst days (2 days after he starts chemo through 2 days after he finishes).  He faces fatigue, nausea, etc.  Food tastes bland.  Certain lights, noises, smells, and tastes spark his nausea too.  (The same stuff that a number of our church family are experiencing with their cancer treatment as well.)

But he didn't want to talk about that.  Do you know what he wanted to talk about?  Helping people!  Ministry!  How could our churches continue to forge better partnerships on ministry projects in the future?  (And all this right after he was just administered a drug to help him sleep!)

I told him about our Perspectives Exposure course coming up (the registration deadline is 1 week away!) and he got excited about it.  We might be seeing some Mt. Olive folk with us during the campaign.

Be praying for him, his wife, his family, and his church!

Pastors Mini-Golf Competition

Our pastors had the chance to get away for a couple hours of R&R together recently.  We had a mini-golf competition.  I'm not going to write who won (Tim).  That would be celebrating too much.  :-)

P.S. You can click on it for full size...or print it out & frame it...or put a handwritten note to Pastor Jim on it, making sure he knows he did a fine job too.  :-)

"1-Mile Pastor" Derrick Lynch

Continuing my quest to meet our church neighbors...reaching out to pastors within 1-mile...the "1-Mile Pastors" group.

Every month, I tell the next generation of people coming through our Prospective Members Class that Grace Church is not in competition with other churches in the community.  God called us to be "fishers of men" instead of "rustlers of sheep."  (Didn't they used to tar-and-feather "sheep-rustlers"?)  :-)

Anyway, today I want to feature Derrick Lynch.  I had lunch with him last week.  He's the new senior pastor of Blue Valley Baptist Church located 1-mile to the north of us.  Derrick is an Okie who has ministered in Oklahoma and Tennessee.  (You might remember I had lunch with another Okie-pastor within 1-mile back in May.)  Derrick is a man who is passionate about Christ, his vision, & building the Kingdom by fulfilling a needed niche in our community.

If you'd like, you can check out Derrick's Amazon.com profile and review of a book here.  And you can meet Blue Valley's new worship pastor here who is on his way to Overland Park.

Here is Derrick's prayer request for his church.

• That God would build a quality ministry team at his church by locating and hiring:

1. A full-time youth minister
2. A full-time children's minister

Would you pause just a moment and lift up Derrick and Blue Valley Baptist in prayer?  Thanks so much.