LifeSong Manchester

Manchester is now our new home.  Lynn and I have been here for 2 weeks now, and fall more in love with the town everyday.  To love a town means you love the people.  We love the people!  In meeting so many people, business owners, residents, and people who are serving the community, the sense that the Holy Spirit is moving in this New England town is obvious. 

Everyone we talk to at this point is very open and find it interesting that a new church is coming to Manchester.  We are hearing comments such as, “I have so many questions about God”, I hope that you have a Saturday night service because I work on Sunday”, and “Your a Pastor?, I didn’t know I could have a relationship with the priest”.  There are times of sowing, times of watering, and times of Harvest.  The scriptures say that "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers or few".  This certainly is a time and place of harvest.

There has been so many times in my life that I have been disobedient from God’s plan for my life, but not today.  And today I ask that God pour out my life for his glory.

Numbers 14:24

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

The USA Today quoted the PEW organization that 1 in 5 are without religious affiliation.  More people are checking “None” in surveys.  In general, this is a true statement in New England, but we all worship something such as other people and relationships, or our stuff.  In Goshen Connecticut a white bison was born last month, and many Native Americans are visiting the town to worship…that’s no bull J
I see a little something different in this town.  People in New England are just simply tired or even broken by religion… the hypocrisy, the inability to live by certain rules or standards.

LifeSong Manchester is a community of people who most of all are in love with Jesus.  Everyone you ever come into contact with has a story to share, at LifeSong we listen and honor those stories.  We also believe that we are all a part of a greater story, God’s Story, and we want to be a place where we can help you enter into his story in a real and authentic way. 

We are beginning as a small group of people who all want the same thing, to transform lives and communities through Jesus.  It has become obvious to me that people in Hartford county really do want a relationship with God, they just don’t want to play games and be fake.  Me too! 

Our launch date is not yet set, but when we have met the milestone of 4 to 5 small groups of people sharing life together it will be time to launch.

We will be known in our community as a safe place to explore faith in Christ with others who are on a spiritual journey.  We know it can and will get a little messy, but I believe that as we start living authentically God smiles and says it’s “A beautiful mess”

Planting The Gospel,

Pastor Tim

Its Time

This is a post that I have been looking forward to share, but at the same time my heart swells with the future separation that we are about to experience.  Its weird because I am in so much peace as I share..... ITs Time.


Last week we traveled to Connecticut to put a deposit on an apartment that is located on main street Manchester.  A day before the trip, Lynn was in a serious car accident, but came out with a good knot on her head, but Limley (my new name for our 2005 Subaru) didn't do so well.  He will be in rehab for about 3 weeks.  


Through all that could have happened and that did happen, I saw God at work, and my only thought was and is... God you have called us, and you have us.  We are under Gods watch and care.


So many of you are holding us up in prayer, and we are being impacted by your support and encouragement.  We are consumed with Gods grace and love.  Our pray has been "Jesus, put us wherever we can make your name great.  Put us in a place where we can love on people that are far from you, and point them to the CROSS.  Our prayers are being answered!


Our last Sunday at LifeSong Church Lyman will be June 24th.  If you are in town, we would love for you to come see us!  We will be moving to Manchester in the first 2 weeks of July.  

Matthew 13:44
The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and cover up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Heading North!
Pastor Tim

A Life Rearranged

A few months ago, Ken Dalrmple's life was changed and rearranged by Jesus.  A week or so after he shared with me that and I quote "I had to have Jesus" I shared with him about our call and vision to plant the Gospel in Connecticut.  The amount of encouragement and support that came from Ken propelled Lynn and I and drove us to even more prayer.  Within weeks Ken had came up with an idea to have a dinner at his house with the goal of helping us raise financial support for LifeSong Manchester. That dinner was this past Saturday night.

Its hard to explain what I witnessed Saturday night without coming to tears.  As Ken and a whole crew of volunteers served and fed a back yard full of people, the man was just gitty with the opportunity to serve and love on his guests.  When the meal started, Ken took a microphone and began to share the story of what brought him to the place in his life where he "had to have Jesus".  He shared the story that he was such a good man, that his opinion was that other people needed the church so that they could be as good as him, then God drew near to him in many ways, and the weight of his sin could be felt.  It was through hearing the gospel at church that brought him to the place where he "had to have Jesus"

When Christ becomes Lord of our lives, we can see more clear the plans that he has for us, and how he will use our lives for His glory.

Lynn and I are absolutely blown away how God has placed people in our lives over the past year and a half to be Go Givers, and send us North.  Family, LifeSongers, Planting the Gospel, and the multiple men and women that are on the ground in Connecticut, we say thank you, thank you, thank you!

We soon will be sharing more details about our timing for relocating to Manchester, the place where we will be missionaries where we live work and play.

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Regeneration

A few days ago I became an uncle again.  Owen Morgan can into this world and I got to hold him for a few minutes.  In just a few weeks, our second grandchild will be born (Timothy Jude Lyda).  I am so excited about these new births.  Its just such a picture of God and His perfect creation.

Physical Birth and Spiritual Birth.

R.C Sproul has written a commentary on 1st and 2nd Peter.  In it he addresses the topic of Regeneration.  In this blog, I want to share just a small portion with you.

About 1 Peter 1:3-5 Sproul writes:

We find in the opening statements of this epistle not only a reference to election but also a specific reference to regeneration or rebirth. This is commonly distorted in our culture by the idea that we have to have faith in order to be reborn or elect, but the sovereign God, from all eternity, decrees those to whom He will give the gift of faith, which is the fruit of regeneration, not the cause of it.

The Reformation church declared that regeneration precedes faith, which is a distinguishing article of Reformed theology. We tend to get that backwards and think that our faith is what causes us to be reborn. Unless we are born of the Spirit, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, we cannot see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it. Regeneration is what provokes and plants faith in our souls. The very condition that God requires for justification is by His grace sovereignly supplied. If we try to place faith before regeneration, we expect the impossible: the natural to rise up to the supernatural.

We expect those who are dead in sin and trespasses to exercise spiritual life. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph. 2:5). Every pregnant woman knows the human experience called “quickening,” which happens when she first feels life in her womb. That is the metaphor Paul gives to the Ephesians of what the Holy Spirit does to people while they are dead. We are as passive in our rebirth as we were in our natural birth. We had nothing to do with causing the conception in our mother’s womb.

Sproul, R. C. (2011-03-02). 1&2 Peter: St Andrew's Expositional Commentary (p. 29). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

I encourage you to find your JOY in the one who brought to life which was dead.

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Empty Pockets

Empty Pockets.

After returning from Connecticut last week, I believe that Lynn and I are still on an Easter celebration High. We celebrated with Oasis of Life church in Rocky Hill, and have been blessed by so many Christ followers in Connecticut. There are some great men and women that are serving our Lord in what I consider the frontlines of planting the gospel in New England.

Friday, Lynn had complete knee replacement surgery, and it went very well. She has endured a lot of pain the past 2 days, but today has been great improvement with reduced pain and more movement. We will be heading home sometime Monday before lunch. To all our family and friends, thank you for the love and prayers.

Today, I have just finished reading again the account of the 2 thieves that were crucified with Jesus in Luke 23:42. The crook said “JESUS, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.

I don’t know how many times I have read this passage in my life, but it just strikes me that this dude had nothing. He had no gifts, no wisdom, no future opportunities to serve, no opportunities to tell others of the Messiah, in short he had empty pockets. Then Jesus says in verse 43, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”.

This reject of society became an “heir of the King” with the simple words of “remember me” and with empty pockets. That is what we refer to as Salvation by Faith alone. Nothing else to do, just recognize that you are guilty and the sin in your life, separates you from God, and then recognize the kingship of the Messiah.

His grace is sufficient and His love is great, and His promise cannot be broken!

Heading North!

Pastor Tim

2012 Gallup Poll

Ed Stetzer latest blog has an update from Gallup in the topic of religion in America. Below is his article Gallup released new research yesterday on religiosity in America. Gallup's Religiosity Index is based on the importance of religion in the everyday lives of Americans and the data was taken from daily tracking polls throughout 2011.

The study notes:
Residents of Southern states are generally the most religious, underscoring the validity of the "Bible Belt" sobriquet often used to describe this region. Coupled with the Southern states in the
high-religiosity category is Utah, the majority of whose residents are Mormon -- the most religious group in America today.

On the other hand, residents of New England and a number of far Western states tend to be the least religious. These numbers should come as no surprise to us. There has been little regional change in religiosity throughout the past few decades. In our lifetime, the South has always been seen as the Bible Belt. New England and and the West have predominantly been less religious states.

While many may lament the irreligiosity of much of the nation, we should be encouraged about the work God is doing through the local church and denominations in states shown to be less religious. My denomination refers to many of these states as "frontier states" and has made a conscious effort to provide more resources and church planters in both the West and New England.

There are many stories like that of Jared Wilson, who migrated out of the Bible Belt to a less religious area for the sake of the gospel. Jared left his church in Nashville three years ago to pastor a small church in rural Vermont-- the least religious state in America. He'd be the first to admit the soil is hard in New England. But he'd also be the first to proclaim the power contained in the gospel plows even the hardest soil like a hot knife through butter.

Yes the stats are alarming-- and they should be. But know that there are faithful men and women of God proclaiming the gospel to a dying world in these areas. And they would covet your prayers-- and your help. by Ed Stetzer

Heading North

Pastor Tim

New England Spring

New England Spring
It’s always exciting when spring starts to show its face. I feel the excitement as it means that Easter is coming and what a wonderful time of bringing worship to the one true King.

On April 1st LifeSong Church will begin a week of Love Invades, where many LifeSongers will take the week off from work to Love on the community of Lyman, through food distribution, free oil changes, free haircuts, and backyard bible clubs throughout the community. During this week there will also be a LifeSong team in Jacmel Haiti serving the community there.

Tim and Lynn Love Invades week
Lynn and I will be traveling to Manchester Connecticut from April 6th through the 11th. The main focus of this trip is prayer. We will be prayer walking the city of Manchester and some of the surrounding towns. There will also be a time that we get to visit with friends and pastors that have planted the gospel in Connecticut. Since we are moving closer to begin our lives in New England, we want to use this time to bring Glory to God as we worship Him this Easter in Connecticut.

Tim and Lynn Planting Update
Many of you are praying for us and we can see the results of being lifted up. Many of you have supported this call on our lives financially, and I want to say Thank You! for the support and prayers. The dollars that God has blessed you with; that you are now being investing in the Kingdom is awesome. We still have a ways to go, to get to the needed monthly support and we are trusting God to continue to supply for the need. Thank You Go Givers!!!!!

We are now moved into Matthew and Brittany’s house (son and daughter in-love), and will be there for the next few months. Lynn will undergo knee replacement surgery in April then will have a few months of rehab. During this time I will complete my work with Planting the Gospel church planting school, and interview for jobs in Connecticut.

My prayer for all of you this week:
Find your JOY in the Cross!

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Inside Out

After spending some time in the Gospels, I have been impacted by some WOW moments of Christ. One in particular is in Matthew 17:1-8 the Transfiguration, when Jesus
allowed Peter, James and John to see his glory. These dudes were blown away by Gods power and greatness.

Moses and Elijah had also appeared to them in this event. When I think about this, Moses and Elijah had other encounters of God, and they “Glowed” as well. Moses on Mt Sinai and Elijah at Mt Horeb. Theirs came from being exposed to Gods glory and it had an visible outward effect.

But then Jesus takes these 3 disciples to Mt Tabor and his glory and power was shown from within, because his is the Son of God. Man…. what power is that? That blows me away!!

So here are some thoughts:

1. I want permanent change in my life, which can only be performed by God, not by me living a “good” life. Permanent meaning you can’t go back to where you have came, because the old cocoon is gone, what used to be a caterpillar is now something beautiful that God created.

2. I want to be blown away every morning, everyday.

3. In the same verses, God says “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” The Gospel of Jesus is worth our attention.

4. You can’t camp on the Mountain top. After the 3 boys had this encounter with the King, God used them in mighty ways to spread the Gospel of Jesus.

When you have exposed your heart to Jesus, God can rearrange your furniture, and being obedient means to trust Him, and what He is doing by using you for the kingdom, not trusting what you can do for the kingdom. I want to be immersed in his presence because the Gospel is everything!

Do you find yourself asking over and over, “God what is your will in my life?” Maybe you are standing in the middle of it, and it’s just simply time to make a decision. The closer you are to
the gospel, the better decisions you make…I stole that one from a NY pastor :)

To be in awe of Gods glory changes you inside out. I love the last part of JD Greear’s gospel prayer:

“As I pray I will remember your compassion by the cross and measure your power by the resurrection”

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Empty Chairs Open Doors

Empty Chairs Open Doors
New England churches are over run with empty chairs and unfortunately their doors are closing. Why? As Vermont church planter stated in one of his blogs “conservative churches became more insular, opting to self-protect in their religious “bunkers” instead of engaging their communities in gospel mission”. I believe we see the beginnings of this activity in the South.

As God points Lynn and me to the precious of Hartford County CT, we can see a little more clearly the groups of people that LifeSong Manchester will seek to connect with:

Churched / Reached
This group of people is not our main focus, but we will seek to partner with as many like minded, missional churches as we can in Hartford County.

Churched / Unreached
This community of people is mostly Catholic or at least by association. For this person to connect with this new church is huge, because it would mean in many cases that the persons family would reject them and or a least their decision. The break away from tradition is a hurdle that many will face, but I believe that the Gospel will penetrate some in this category.

Un Churched / Reached
Because of the close proximity to a major hub like Hartford, many “out of towners” are in the county, and they are Christ followers that simply cannot find a body of believers that they can connect with and be discipled, even though when you Google Connecticut for churches, it is as “doted” as the South. LifeSong Manchester will be a place where these people can make connections and grow.

Un Churched / Un reached
This appears to be the largest population with the ages of 18 to 35 year olds. These people have their backs to the cross. They are not looking for God. They are looking for a purpose and fulfillment in life, and have not found it yet. This group is one that much of our prayers and efforts will be placed. We will seek to build relationships and do life with these people.

As my good friend Serge Chevalier said, “the harvest in Connecticut is wide open, and people are primed to hear and respond to the Gospel”.

We are asking God to use us for His glory, and share the good news of the King. There are empty chairs, but HE has opened doors. In the harvest, we will disciple those who will make disciples. My prayer is that when this new church is launched, that it will be pregnant with the next planting of the gospel in new England, because:

Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Planting The Gospel

This past week, we had an opportunity to attend Velocity Church Planting conference at Mt Lake church in Cumming Ga. Lynn and I enjoy so much being in those environments because it challenges us as well as growing our hearts together toward the call in our lives to plant the gospel in Manchester Connecticut.

This morning as I skim through my notes from the week, I would like to share some snip-its:

On Planting the Gospel:

I am not alone (Exodus 33:12-14). He goes with you and ahead of you.
Gods pace is not my pace. Waiting is a faith issue.
If I do not finish with my family, I do not finish well.
Am I content with Jesus only? Because Jesus is enough I am fully in Christ,
I am secure in Christ.
Jesus + Anything = Emptiness.
When Jesus said “it is finished” Satan lost his power… we need not to forget that.
You can’t lead until you bleed. Follow Jesus so close that you will be associated with Him.
Love God more than you Love the vision.

On Marriage:

Pray in the house, pray together, and pray for each other.
Dream BIG dreams for your marriage.

Believing the best about your spouse creates trust, not distrust.
Absence of conflict is not the same as intimacy, but no level 10 responses to level 2 issues.
Carry each other’s Armor.
Leading from insecurity will cost you more than you think (Hebrews 14:14-15).

Tim and Lynn Update:

Our house has sold and we will be moved out by April 15th. God continues to us this time for us to
connect with others that have a heart to plant the gospel in New England. Our prayer is that future employment would land us in Manchester CT by the summer.

In the mean time we are meeting with many people and sharing the vision that God has birthed in our hearts. We are so blessed that so many of you are praying for us, encouraging us and sending us. Lynn and I can’t thank you enough for your love and support!

Heading North
Pastor Tim