jyu27:

How Perfect God Is.

My Child,
You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you…

Portland Team Updates will be posted at this blog.  Please keep them in your prayers.

FESCO (Family Emergency Shelter COalition) is a great organization in Hayward.  Pathway has been blessed to be able to serve and help out FESCO in different ways throughout the past few years (cleaning up a group home, donating jackets and food, garden work, adopt-a-family Christmas project, adopt-a-room project, thanksgiving boxes, etc).  This is just a video to share and show the impact in people’s lives that this organization can help bring.  If you’re in the Bay Area around Hayward, we encourage you to get involved!

It is so hard to watch your child suffer. Emi had to get 2 shots. The picture speaks for itself. (Sad, but CUTE!) The worst for me was pinning 3 day old Emi down so an ENT Doctor could clip her tied tongue. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have your only son crucified. Thank you God for sending your son to die and for a chance to understand that more. - Pastor Tim

happy Turkey Day everyone. Take some time to put things in perspective today. “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.” Psalm 105:1. Don’t just tell someone what you’re thankful for today, tell people what God has done for you and give him praise. As we say at PCC, Happy PRAISEgiving! God bless Timothy Lee

In a stretched connection to Pastor Dave’s message on Sunday (talking about facebook and faithbook) we reblog this image.  Why Dinosaurs are extinct.

Why hello there Pastor’s blog. Its been a while hasn’t it? Fatherhood (and with it sleepless nights) has distracted me from you. We’ll try to get this thing going again. While I’m on here, I just want to say thank you on behalf of Yumi, Emi, our dog Ty and myself. The amazing support of the church has been overwhelming. Thank you for the kind emails, encouragements, meals, texts and more. You have gone above and beyond and Yumi and I are so thankful to be a part of this body of Christ. Yumi actually put together a packet of emails from men at the church with fatherhood stories and tips. One of them said, “You realize you’re a father when you are trying to go to sleep with poop in your nails and you don’t care.” I don’t know if I’ll ever get there. Ever. We have had some late night incidents, but I’ve gone to sleep scrubbed down and clean every time. I’ll keep you updated on that tumblr. Pastor Tim

30 Hour Famine was a huge success this weekend.  Special thanks goes out to the drivers, the volunteers and the soup makers!

STUDENTS, you were amazing.  You kept a positive attitude even when you had to dump your feet into muddy water and not once did anyone complain of hunger.  I hope you were able to experience a deeper understanding of world need and how blessed you really are to live here in the States.  I know that I was blessed by realizing that with a generation like you that our world will be in good hands… that the needy won’t be shunned or overlooked… that God has instilled in you all a compassion and love that will change the hearts of mankind.

We are still raising money for famine.  If you’re interested in donation please click the link below.  If you’d like to buy a shirt (pictured) please email tim@pathwaycommunitychurch.org - Shirts are $15 each (will feed a child for a week) or with a $30 donation to the link below (feed a child for a month) the shirts will be $5 (sent to Pathway).

Donations can be made here.

I have some thoughts on the series finale of Lost. We see that the show was not as much about the island and its many dangers and mysteries as much as it was about the lives of the people who survived the crash of Oceanic 815. For the first three seasons we got drawn into the back stories of the survivors as we learned things about them that many of them did not know about each other. The survivors have one thing in common. They are all broken and flawed individuals who were looking for something that the outside world was not providing. The island became a place where many of the characters found meaning fulfillment and closure. Growth took place in the context of a community of broken people just trying to get home. This collection of broken, isolated people learned that getting home required them to work collaboratively towards their common goal. Made me think of the church. Like the Lost survivors we too are a collection of broken and flawed individuals just trying to get home. One lesson from Lost is that making our way to our eternal home requires us to learn to trust, forgive and love each other. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Over the past few weeks I’ve been going through finals, and I must say that it is fantastic to be on the other side where my thoughts are no longer consumed with thoughts of studying while doing all other things.  It was a fantastic semester and a really convicting one at that.

I had the opportunity to read “Reflections on the Psalms” by C.S. Lewis this term.  I have read many quotes from it before, especially on the chapter on praise.  But to be able to read the quotes in context of the chapter, and the chapter in context of the book, the thoughts were more piercing than before.

C.S. Lewis and I have stood on opposite ends of understanding, or should I say, misunderstanding praise.  He writes about how he felt it unnecessary for the Psalmists to continually tell others to praise, worship, make a joyful noise, etc.  The confusion came in wondering why others (including God himself) felt the need to force worship.  I on the other hand, was… am one of those people who try to make people worship every week.  It is my job, my obligation and what I feel “called” to do.  In a limited view, both of our stances fall short of the intention of worship.

Lewis’s realization, and my conviction this past week, is that the only way someone can find complete joy in something is if they praise it.  When I find a fantastic restaurant, I have to tell other people about it.  Just check my personal tumblr and see all the pictures of food.  My joy of the food is not complete until I tell others.  Whether it is cars, paintings, music, or even a boy or girl that we admire, we feel the need to tell others so that they can see, confirm, and also admire (or praise) our object of affection.

For some reason we do not feel this need when it comes to worship.  Perhaps we are embarrassed, or overwhelmed by the negation connotations with being a “Jesus-freak,” but for some reason we are content with our personal joy.  Maybe it is because we really do not admire God and his love as much as we understand it.  And maybe it is because I, and possibly some other worship leaders, have begun to lead congregations in praise focused on singing and not on realizing the very character and nature of God.

God is amazing.  He is more than I could ever understand, but from what I do understand, I cannot hold it in.  If I can get myself, my desires, and my “job responsibilities” out of the way, maybe my praise can come forward and maybe my joy will be complete.