YOU FOOLISH TIM...

Mark Niemeyer is the official winner of our senior staff book of the month The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson. Mark was the first to guess that our road of the month was photographed in the great basketball state of Indiana. Because I'm feeling extra generous this month I have a packet of instant coffee from the HR suite at DCC for the first person who can tell me what exactly is a "Hoosier"? And "a Gene Hackman movie" is not an acceptable answer. Get me the answer before midnight and I might even throw in some complimentary shampoo.

Our senior staffer of the week has a twin sister, hails from the queen city of the trails, and has licked the Great Wall of China. By now you have guessed it must be Tim Dorsch because his name and picture are in the column at the right- and you would be correct.

Older folks recognize Independence, Missouri as the home of Harry Truman. Today's younger generation knows Independence as the start of the Oregon Trail video game. However, people in Simperofol, Ukraine, celebrate it as the birthplace of Tim Dorsch. More on that later, but Tim's birthdate was January 23rd, 1979. Bro- we just missed your 29th birthday by two days.


Tim was led to the Lord by his father after a family devotional around Christmas time at the ripe age of nine. He went on to Washington University in St. Louis… (the name of the school- not name of the school and the location) to major in art and business. After graduating from college Tim Joined staff with Campus Crusade for Christ in 2001 where he has been on the St. Louis Catalytic team ever since.

"The things I enjoy most about being on staff are my coworkers, seeing lives transformed, and international summer projects. I love the end-of-the-summer parties for new believers in Ukraine and East Asia. But like my wife Aubrey I hate saying good-bye to people." You can also tell by the pictures he sent in that Tim loves being a dad and playing with his boys.



Before Charlie was born, Tim would substitute surrogate sons into his playtime with Caleb. Here they are playing outside with the Mattel "Snow Bro."



As for Tim's Ukraine connections, I asked him to share one of his staff highlights with us: "One of my favorite staff memories started when I met Yura the first night of a week-long English camp that Aubrey and I were directing in Simperofol, Ukraine. Yura, a bright and popular student at Simperofol’s largest university, had come to the camp to improve his English. God had additional plans; later that night he opened Yura’s heart to respond to the gospel. Aubrey and I were leading a team of students starting campus ministries in Simperofol. Over the course of that summer twenty-one students, like Yura, entered into a personal relationship with God."

"Yura and I spoke about God regularly during the two months I was there. One night, we took a long walk, and Yura described how he understood that God has an intense desire to have a personal relationship with people. I told Yura that his observation was wise. He responded, 'Tim, that’s not my wisdom; that is what the Bible says.' I smiled and encouraged him to make a habit of thinking and living what the Bible states."

"Yura and I keep in touch through email. Recently, he wrote and told me about a great church that he has gotten involved with and how he is sharing the gospel with other Ukrainians. What a thrill it is to see him living the truth of 1 John 2: 'Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.' We pray that God will continue to use him for the rest of his life to spread the good news of knowing Christ."

One of my favorite quotes is from Jerry Bridges- “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.”
Tim Dorsch
St. Louis Catalytic Team

Tim is also a student and avid reader. His full list of favorite books (which could not all fit in the profile section) include Transforming Grace, Cold Mountain, Devil in the White City, Desiring God, Without Remorse, The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald, The Heavenly Man, Then Some Other Stuff Happened, Getting Things Done, The Tower Treasure, and Gloomy Gus. For the books that did fit and other tidbits on Tim be sure to click and check his profile section. As for his time in the Word, one of the things God has been teaching him more about is the role of grace in sanctification. "I retranslate Galatians 3:1-3 'You foolish Tim!... Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?'"

I like that translation so much I think I'll use it in the title for your feature somehow. Happy belated birthday Tim- enjoy the last 363 days of your roaring 20's.

PUSHBACK ATTACK

In our call to the Great Commission, pushback is inevitable and persecution a promise. I have been reading through the Gospel of Mark this month and was reminded of these truths. In our attempts to be culturally sensitive as well as relevant, we must always remember that Jesus Christ had a polarizing effect with some folks, even in the course of doing "good deeds" while presenting the "good news."

In the second chapter of Mark and through the first six verses of chapter 3, Jesus has five incidents that bring both praise and pushback. In the course of two healings, calling a disciple, a teaching, and a simple Saturday afternoon walk Jesus raises red flags to the religious right.

After telling the paralytic his sins were forgiven, "some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But after telling the man to rise and walk everyone was amazed and praised God.

After calling Levi the tax collector to follow him, he goes to dinner at Levi's house where he is engaged with many of Levi's unsaved peers. This great outreach opportunity eludes the teachers of the law who were Pharisees, who can only ask his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

When people saw John's disciples and the Pharisees fasting, some came and asked Jesus why his disciples were not aligned with the conventionial spiritual disciplines of the times. Not only were the disciples not fasting, but on one Saturday they had the gall to pick some heads of grain while strolling through a field. This raises the ire of the Pharisees who say, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

Finally Jesus was in the synagouge and approached a man with a shriveled hand. "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Let's tally the measurable results of Jesus' efforts in these 32 verses: new teaching and understanding of the kingdom of God, one new involved convert on track to be an appointed disciple, two men miraculously healed and restored, and the masses amazed and praising God. Further in Mark 3:7-12 we see that crowds now are following Jesus anywhere from everywhere.

But there are still other measurable responses: certain numbers of teachers of the law, Pharisees, and some of their dogmatic followers are offended and up in arms. There is a saying that "no good deed goes unpunished." This can happen even with the good deeds associated with the good news as we look at the reaction of the religious leaders in 3:6 "Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus."

Two healthy perspectives I can take home from this passage as I encounter difficulty in my ministry: Where is my pushback coming from? and Is it focused towards me or toward Jesus?

-Bert