Supporting the Luis Palau Association in its efforts to create a living legacy, Palau Alliance Ministries exists to identify, affirm, and equip evangelists uniquely called in the specific areas of:
Action Sports | Livin it
Creative Arts | CAA
I went to Rolla, Missouri this past week to visit my family.
People have asked me over the years how I got into freestyle flatland skating. The answer is simply this: I grew up in a small rural town where the only place to skate around my house was this slab of concrete underneath the deck. This is where I created and invented many of my freestyle tricks that are seen today. This made me think of how God seemingly throughout the centuries has used people that are the least likely from the least likely places.
I never thought I would have a full time job speaking & skating, creating and performing tricks that only a handful of people on the planet can do. As far as I know, I’ve been the only freestyle skater in the industry who has had a full time job for an entire decade skating flatground. I just smile when I think of sharing the good news of Jesus over the years with 100’s of thousands of people and this silly stick with wheels has been my vehicle into so many hearts. It all started on a back porch in a small midwest town that most people have never even heard of. This is also the place where I gave my life to Jesus.
GOD IS…..
Tim B.
If there was a position in ministry called Director of Awkward Moments I would be promoted to it. Why? Because I have a tendency, in the words of my old pastor, to keep talking until I start making sense and to make appropriately funny jokes at flat-out inappropriate times. Sometimes my attempts at humor are misinterpreted as serious statements. Sometimes my serious statements are misinterpreted as attempts at humor. It’s always awkward when people don’t know whether to laugh, cry, punch you in the face or run away in terror.
One time, on a TBN-type live television broadcast, I high fived the host’s uplifted praise hand. I could see his hand go skyward out of the corner of my eye as I was telling a moving story of a changed life. My peripheral vision combined with my hands-are-for-clapping Baptist mindset, told me that this TV preacher was wanting to give me a high five in response to my story. But he was just raising his hands in praise to God. I quickly turned to him, and before I noticed his other upstretched hand of praise, I smacked the one closest to me so hard it stunned and bewildered him. The camera guys were laughing so hard that their lenses were shaking. AWKWARD!
I’ve had awkward moments as a pastor. While concluding a service I once misquoted Psalm 150 as “let everything that has breasts praise the Lord!” AWKWARD! I’ve had them as a counselor. Responding to a guy who told me that he was so spiritual that God told him he could divorce his wife I said, “God just told me something too. He said ‘You are full of crap!’ Now get out of my office before I throw you out!” AWKWARD! I’ve had them as a traveling evangelist. Once while visiting Europe a group of Scottish evangelists asked me what I thought of their sickening-sweet orange drink called Iron Brew and I responded, “If soda were gay this would be it.” Little did I know it was their national drink that they were immensely proud of. AWKWARD!
I could go on and on about my awkward life but I think I’ve made my point. I am the Michael Scott of the Christian faith. But guess what? Jesus loves me anyway.
As painful as my-kind-of-awkward can be there is another kind of awkward that is absolutely awesome. 1 Corinthians 4:10 refers to this good brand of awkward when Paul writes, “We are fools for Christ….”
When we are willing to make fools of ourselves and share Jesus with those around us then that is awesome! As a a matter of fact the more awkward we may feel while communicating the gospel the more awesome things Christ can do. When we are willing to become fools for Christ by preaching a gospel message that is considered foolish by the world (1 Corinthians 1:18) Jesus will do amazingly awesome things!
As we share the gospel we need to remember to communicate it to the point of awkward. We should feel the blood rushing to our face and ears as we lean into those around us and challenge them to accept the message. If we are just casually sharing the gospel as a “well this is what I believe” but are not persuading them to believe that same message then it is not awkward enough. Of course we want to share the good news in a winsome, relational and loving way but our goal should not be to be considered cool as we share it. Sharing the gospel is anything but cool because the moment we say in any kind of declarative way that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” and that nobody comes to the Father except through him, we are no longer cool. At that moment we become fools for Christ’s sake.
But those awkward moments can lead to awesome results. They did with the original Director of Awkward Moments, Jesus Christ himself! When Jesus told the woman at the well that she had had five husbands and that the dude she was currently shacking up with was not her husband that was an awkward moment. But it led to her awesome salvation from a life of sin. From Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees to his disciples and to the crowds we can see that Jesus’ ministry was filled with awkwardness. But it was in the tension of those awkward moments that many people looked deeply into their own souls to evaluate their filthy hearts before a holy God. It was in the atmosphere of awkwardness that lives were changed and souls were saved.
In the words of my buddy and partner in crime against the forces of darkness, Zane Black, “If pink is the new black then awkward is the new awesome!”
Let’s get awkward. Let’s share Jesus! Want to make a difference today? Have an awkward conversation about the gospel with someone you know and watch God do some awesome things!
I did an outreach in Battleground, WA this weekend. I was stoked to be so close to home and sharing Jesus. This was a tough event for myself & the crew who invited me out. These guys did a great job with running the contests and having give-aways through out the day. The skate park was a huge concrete mass that had everything you would want to skate on. I had my humble flatland surface on a stage near by where I skated and shared my heart. The crowd for the most part was tough, with somewhat of a “locals only” attitude, which I completely understood. We were outsiders coming in to preach the Gospel.
God used us, and Liz and I were able to pray and connect with a whole bunch of kids and adults throughout the day. Our ministry had more to do with us being relational and caring, not so much to do with being a Pro skateboarder with a bag of tricks and a message from stage.
All for Jesus!
Tim B.
Last Thursday before I was preparing to fly out the following morning to Dallas, I decided to go for a quick skate session at my church. I went up for a wall ride on my board and my foot slipped off the back and I drove my left knee straight into the ground. As I fell, I did the splits putting all my weight on my twisted limb.
I heard and felt this awful popping & ripping noise like everything just tore apart.
A rush of thoughts came into my mind that I was done skateboarding and my traveling ministry would be on hold.
I stood up fast in pain and leaned against the wall and cried out to my Father and I was reminded of the power of I have in Jesus. As I prayed with authority as a child of God, my leg snapped back together and I felt no pain. I even walked for a bit to make sure (ye of little faith… right?).
I made it to Dallas TX the next day for a youth conference. I had to make a trip to Home Depot that night just an hour prior to my stage time to pick up my wood for the stage. To make a long story short I dropped a piece of wood on my big toe and smashed it, turning my foot into a weird shade of blue and purple. I still felt the Lord strengthen me that night and I skated and shared Jesus.
The next day I was off to Brooklyn N.Y. to speak and skate for 3 youth services at the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle. It was awesome and again I felt God’s presence and power upholding me and giving me the words to speak. People came to Jesus and I made it home to Portland Monday at 2 am. God is good.
All for Jesus
Tim B.
Okay, so Friday marked the end of my P90x meets G90x extreme physical/spiritual fitness experiment. The idea was to do the popular physical workout (P90x…you’ve seen the informercials) combined with my own extreme spiritual fitness routine that I developed just for this bicep meets Bible test. These dual workouts combine push ups, pull ups and plyos with verse memorization, Scripture reading and prayer. For more on what is involved in G90x click here.
So what were the results of my soul/body makeover?
P90x: I am blown away that I was, by God’s grace, able to lose 20 pounds (over 10% of my body fat!) over the last 90 days. I went from 207 to 187 lbs and am back in size 32 pants for the first time in 14 years. I also increased my strength, endurance and flexibility significantly. The informercials are true. If you do the workouts and change your eating habits you can see results in 90 days. My favorite workout? Kempo! My most hated workout? Core Synergistics! Did I hit every workout? No. I would say that I hit about 90% (which is pretty good considering my intense travel schedule.) Did I have any desserts during this time (a P90x no no)? Yes! Yes! I had two: once on our 20 year wedding anniversary cruise and once on our actual anniversary date. No no. Yes yes. Yum yum.
Do I have bulging biceps now? No! But I can do a lot more push ups than I could three months ago. Can you count my abs? No. But there is a thinner layer of cushy fat covering them now…and they are harder! If you don’t believe me then punch me in the stomach as hard as you can the next time you see me. On second thought, don’t. Just take my word for it.
G90x: While spiritual results are harder to gauge I can tell you what I was able to get done of my pretty lofty goals. Although it took technically 92 days I got through the whole Bible from cover to cover. Advantage? When you read through Scripture in large chunks you get different things out of it than when you read through Scripture in smaller chunks. I was able to average more than 90 minutes of prayer per week and deeply enjoyed my fellowship with God through prayer. I learned to LOVE prayer walking otherwise known as walking while you pray. There’s nothing more spiritual about it but it helped keep me alert as I prayed and really focused my mind on the throneroom of God.
What was the “worst” part of G90x experiment? Scripture memory. I memorized just over half of the 90 verses I had intended to memorize. Shame on me but this discipline was the hardest one. It was the AB ripper X of the G90x regime (those of you who have taken P90x know exactly what I’m talking about.) But this is one area I intend to keep working on from here on out.
Finally, I did some extreme sin mortifying in my own life. Which sins? None of your bees wax. But, through God’s strength made available to us through the finished work of Christ on the cross I was able to tackle some tough ones.
What did I learn? I learned that “while physical training is of some value, godliness has value for all things….”
If you did or are doing G90x/P90x what are the results you are getting? Remember, as Tony Horton of P90x fame always says, "Do your best and forget the rest!”
Posted on 15 August 2010 | 7:31 pm
By: Alliance Ministries
Last weekend in Chicago went really well. An individual in the church that hosted me booked and handled all of the logistics. He found one of our Reach Your City mailers at his church and decided to pay for everything and have me out. This man and his family were such a blessing and I was stoked to share Jesus and ride my skateboard in the windy city. I am now getting on another plane and heading to Dallas/ Ft.Worth for a youth conference tonight and then onto Brooklyn N.Y. tomorrow to share at the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle on Sunday. I will then arrive home to Portland, Sunday at midnight. I need prayer for my strength and energy. I just want people to know Jesus.
God bless
Tim B.
I have held you in my arms for ten million minutes.
You have held me in your heart for the same.
In spite of our fights and our struggles,
I would do it in a second again.
For the Lord has used you to change my soul
And teach me what it means to love.
Although we each are very different
So are a hand and a glove.
With each tick and each tock our love has evolved
From selfish to selfless to more.
It’s turning agape by God’s own grace,
As we learn to leave our pride at the door.
For ten million minutes you have been patient.
For ten million more you have prayed.
For ten million you have rolled your eyes
At the goofy jokes I have made.
For ten million minutes I’ve been grateful.
For ten million more I’ve praised the Lord.
For He has bestowed on my crazy life,
More blessings than I could afford:
A wife who loves me no matter what,
A son who is the best,
A daughter who is one-of-a-kind,
And a home where I’m learning to rest.
If the Ancient of Days divinely chooses
To give us ten million minutes more,
I will praise Him again and again
For such a great wife to adore.
*Written for my wife on our 20 year anniversary (today!) Although 20 years technically equates to 10,512,000 minutes, that number is much harder to rhyme with so I rounded down. Yes, I’m an idiot, but I love you sweetie. Thanks for 20 awesome, intense, lively, fun and life-changing years together!
I had a great time this past weekend in Florida. I did an outreach right outside Orlando in a town called Titusville. I cannot say enough good things about the people who brought me out to do ministry and skate. The church is called New Venture so if you are in that area, you gotta go meet these folks. I was so stoked that we did an event in the local park and everyone was invited, even a few homeless that slept at the park joined us. I met this one guy named Zack who has been on the streets for a long time. He was one of the coolest guys in the place. I really enjoyed hanging with him and talking about Jesus. It was great to see people from all different backgrounds gather together.
I shared the good new of Jesus and a few people raised there hands- it was awesome! I want to give a huge thanks to Pastor Charlie, Steve (video), Chris (sound), Jerry (for building my skate stage) and everyone else at New Venture Church. God bless you guys.
Tim B.
As the former preaching pastor of a thriving church who has intentionally chosen the ministry pathway of working with the hormone/adrenalin saturated segment of the church-going population (aka “teenagers), I often get asked why in one way or another. Why would I resign from what many consider to be the most powerful position in a church (“the pastor”) to pursue highly distracted and super twitchy teens? Why would I give up the security and stability of preaching to adults week in and week out to travel the country and train teenagers to share their faith…at a $23 per student financial loss mind you! Why would I subject myself, staff and family to the endless stress that comes from trying to raise money and run a non-profit during what many consider to be the worst recession since The Great Depression?
Sometimes good intentioned Christians ask me, “How long do you think you’ll be doing Dare 2 Share?” I know what they are getting at. It’s almost as though they think that, when I hit a certain age or level of maturity, I will say “enough is enough” and put on my big boy pants so that I can pastor again.
So, for those of you who are involved in youth ministry or wonder why people like me are, let me give you some answers to the question “why teenagers?”
1. God has a “bad habit” of choosing teenagers to accomplish his greatest causes.
From Joseph, a teenager sold into slavery by his brothers, to Esther, a teenager who won a beauty contest, God has used young people in big ways to do big things. He used both Joseph and Esther to save the nation of Israel in two very different ways.
In 1 Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel goes to the house of Jesse it is not the ripped and dapper men of the house that God chooses. It is the underage runt of the litter that got annointed as the future king of Israel. One chapter later this kid named David, who was delivering cheese and crackers to his older brothers in the war, got ticked off that a nine foot six inch Philistine giant was talking smack against the God of Israel. His anger left an impression on Goliath…a deep one.
But its not just in the Old Testament where God demonstrates his predisposition to choose and use teenagers. Jesus primarily picked teens to be his disciples. In Matthew 17 when Jesus, Peter and the disciples go into Capernaum, only Peter and Jesus pay the temple tax (although all of the disciples are there!) According to Exodus 30:14 the temple tax was only applicaple to those twenty years old and above. If I’m reading that right that means that Jesus was a youth leader with only one adult sponsor…and one really rotten kid.
2. God receives maximum glory when the “foolish things of the world” confound the wise.
1 Corinthains 1:26-29 makes this crystal clear, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
If this passage is not a case for working with teenagers I don’t know what is. Teenagers are foolish, goofy and crazy. I love it! God loves it! He wants to use them as twitchy revolutionaries to change the course of nations and to launch a global awakening of Biblical proportions just like his Son did 2,000 years ago!
3. It just makes sense.
Teenagers are wet cement. They form to the forms layed out for them. While working with adults is definitely important sometimes a jackhammer and wheel barrow is required before the wet cement can be poured in their souls.
Jonathan Edwards, perhaps the brightest mind in the 1st Great Awakening in the United States, records that the “revival has been chiefly amongst the young….” As a matter of fact, teenagers have been on the leading edge of every major spiritual awakening in the history of the United States.
Teenagers are idealists, visionaries and unrealistic. This lack of realism allows them to see visions and have dreams that thoses of us who have been worn down by the realities of life may no longer see. Adults tend to use microscopes and teenagers telescopes. We tend to get worn down by life and they tend to get fired up by causes. We wonder how much money it will take and they just don’t care.
If ignorance is bliss they are in heaven. But it’s this same ignorance that will get many into heaven. They don’t know that they can’t reach the world for Christ just by spreading the gospel so they are willing to do it. They don’t know that they can’t reach their school without demographic research so they just reach it. They don’t know that it takes more than prayer, proclamation and good intentions so they pray and preach with pure hearts and God uses them as a result.
Hitler hijacked teen culture and used it to advance the Nazi agenda. Communists harness and unleash the idealism of teenagers to spread the message of communism. If evil people and evil philosophies can mobilize young people for their causes then why can’t the Bride of Christ unleash young people to spread the gospel for the best cause ever, the spread of the gospel across the planet?
Teenagers are the most underutiziled, underestimated and underchallenged group of people in the church. As a result our churches are dying.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor Admiral Yamamoto was asked about how he felt. His answer was stark, “I am fearful that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve.”
It is time to awaken the sleeping giant in the church called teenages and fill them with holy resolve.
God really blessed the 15th year of Walking On Water Dream Surf Camps! The last day of camp we even had the rainbow seen in this photo. It was the best rainbow I have ever seen in California. It was a great reminder of God’s love and His promises! We hope to see you next summer at the Walking On Water Dream Surf Camps.
It may come as a surprise to you that, the President of a ministry called Dare 2 Share, hates evangelism. But I do. Let me tell you why.
Evangelism forces me to decide whether or not I believe in Jesus enough to tell someone else that he is the only way into God’s favor. It puts me in the awkward position of telling a fellow human being that the core of what they believe about salvation is wrong, what the Bible says is right and that they need to repent (i.e. “change their minds”)if they expect to make it into heaven. Say it twice or say it nice and it still stings.
Evangelism makes my neighbors whisper about me and strangers laugh at me. It makes family members, who have yet to trust in Christ, roll their eyes when I engage them about the claims of Jesus at family reunions (aka “funerals” or “weddings.”) Evangelism makes for awkward moments everywhere I go.
To be honest it would be much easier just to preach the gospel with my life and leave the words out of it. Wordless evangelism doesn’t spark outrage. It doesn’t spark arguments. It doesn’t spark anything. No discussion. No faith. No transformation.
Maybe I should ditch evangelism completely and just live a good life. I could seek to eradicate poverty, stop human trafficking or adopt orphans. Nobody will get mad at me then. Most people would probably think that I’m pretty cool. And, to be totally truthful, that’s what I want, to be cool and accepted, not mocked and rejected.
Who wants to be marginalized? Who wants to be persecuted? Who wants to come off as a stark raving lunatic?
Actually, who wants to be treated like the early disciples? Sure they took care of orphans and widows (very cool!) but they evangelized everyone they met (not so cool!) These Christians just wouldn’t shut up. In the midst of all their service to the poor they passionately proclaimed to them, and to everyone else who would listen, that this wood-working rabbi named Jesus was the exclusive way to God. As a result they were crucified upside down, beheaded right side up and gutted inside out.
Not fun.
I don’t want to take a punch for Jesus. Heck, I don’t even want to be a punch line on his behalf. I don’t like the feelings of shame that come from preaching the Name of Jesus Christ. Yeah, yeah, I know that 2 Timothy 3:12 promises that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” And I know that this persecution erupts from declaring that “Jesus is Lord” to a scoffing world. But there has got to be another way. Right?
After all doesn’t Peter sound kind of arrogant when he declares in Acts 4:12 that, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”? The gall of that chief disciple of Jesus who was given the keys to the kingdom by the King of kings himself! The arrogance of that leader of the revolution that was the early New Testament church!
Yes, I hate evangelism. I don’t like at all what it does to me. It puts me smack dab into a camp of Christians that are sure of what they believe and confident in what they proclaim. It puts me in the crosshairs of Satan, the world and the too-cool-for-the-old-school Christians.
But, on the other hand, maybe this was what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:11-12 in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Okay, maybe I don’t hate evangelism. Or maybe it’s the old me (the one before I met Jesus) who hates it. But, as I think about it, getting mocked or marginalized for the sake of Jesus isn’t nearly as bad as getting crucified for crimes you didn’t commit.
Here at Dare 2 Share, we’re working on a teen devotional book that has an evangelism emphasis and I need your help. I’m looking for stories from teens that talk about their own particular unique faith-sharing styles. So check out the following four styles of sharing your faith and tell me what you thinkn Talk about your own experiences. Which style do you think you are and what approaches have you personally found that work for you when it comes to sharing your faith with others using your own unique style?
Here are just four basic faith-sharing styles. I call them: talkers, “stalkers,” buddies and brains.
Talkers are winsome and wordy. Their strength is their contagious excitement for the good news of the gospel. They tend to be friendly, funny, very persuasive and highly relational. The Apostle Paul in Acts 17:16-33 was a talker.
“Stalkers” are strong and blunt. They tend to be powerful personalities who are relentless in their witness. They are unapologetic in their presentation of the gospel. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:1-14 was “stalker.”
Buddies are super relational and caring. They tend to empathize with people and be great listeners. They come through the side door when it comes to evangelism. Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18:24-26 were buddies.
Brains are intellectual and factually convincing. They tend to embrace apologetics and can present people with well-reasoned arguments for accepting Christ. Luke wrote the book of Luke and Acts to make a case to one man named Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1).
No one style is better than the others; they are just different approaches. And some people may be a blend of several. In fact, I believe that Jesus modeled the ultimate balance of all four styles.
What do you think? Which are you? And what from your own personal experience makes you think that’s your particular style?
Keep in mind as you give us feedback and comments, that we may include your sotry in the book!! (In other words, you are giving us permission to use it!)
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