Tim Harlow

Do we really understand how much Jesus loves kids?

I’ve read this text from Matthew 18 many times and every time it reminds me of Jesus doing a Mafia impression. I picture DeNiro or Pacino saying these words.

“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matthew 18:5-6

This was in my personal reading this week and it fit together for me. I have kids on my mind these days. We had a great night at the Jackhammers’ game in Joliet with literally the majority of the crowd being from Parkview. And our Kid’s workers were especially recognized there as this was a fun - reward night - for them. We have an amazing group of Children’s workers at this church. I say that a lot, but it’s fresh on my mind after sitting in the group of them Monday night. Selfless people, I love them.

And kids are on my mind, because I got to see John and Kim Bretzlaff’s new baby boy named Gibson (yes, after the guitar). Middle name is William, not Les Paul, though.

And kids are on my mind, because my oldest one was home for a week and she’s gone back to Music City, and we are moving Lauren into college in Wheaton tomorrow. She’s been at a camp so she “left home” already, but moving in is this weekend. And Becca is starting back to high school this week. So it’s a big change week for us.

Denise and I commented to Kim that it’s kind of weird for us to be on this side of things. They are bringing one into the world at the same time we are letting ours go on into the world. It’s really hard to believe.

We're having a baby!

Not Denise and I – I’m talking about Parkview!

I got to see the Lockport Campus and the core team on Wednesday night and it felt like a bunch of people getting the new baby's room ready. It’s so cool to see all the stuff happening over there and think about the new baby that will be born on September 21st. Because really that is what is happening over there. Parkview is giving birth to a new church. It’s going to be another location for us with the same leadership and same budget and same sermons on video. But it really is a new church. As a matter of fact, our consultants tell us that the success rate of a “new campus” is much higher than that of a completely new church. These are working all over the country and all over the city of Chicago and it is enabling churches to grow and reach people that would never drive the distance back to the first location.

It was just very exciting for me to get to see the construction and the new parking and meet the team.

We will be commissioning the staff in our services this weekend. We are sending out 250k postcards to the community to let them know we are coming. We will be publicizing it at the Joliet Jackhammers game on Monday night. We’re doing everything we can to give this new baby a fantastic home and a wonderful future. If you want to keep up with the news, go to Pastor Brian’s blog at
Brian's blog

Please be praying for Brian and the team as they make last minute preparations. The staff is in place, the core is ready, and the rest of the equipment is on it’s way. Now we wait and pray for a beautiful delivery.

Don’t miss the exciting conclusion of Ruth this weekend!

Tim

PS. Speaking of offspring - John and Kim are going to have a real baby in the next few days – keep them in prayer too!

And She's Off

We’re taking Lauren to Wheaton today. She is going to a week of Spiritual development and Leadership camp. We won’t actually move her in until next weekend, but she won’t be coming home – so this is it.

We’ve been pretty blue as it’s set in. I won’t lie to you. I put a sign on my door that says, “Don’t bug me. My kid grew up too fast and I’m not happy.”

I was just taking a walk and reflecting (cause for pause). I went to the north lobby of the worship center. I could hear them working on the new administration space above me and see them working on the new parking lot in front of me. It was one of those moments when I get to feel proud of this place here and what God has done.

And it was then that a thought came to me. I think it was God – it was definitely God – saying “hey this is cool, but the most important thing I gave you to do was raise your kids.” I’ve said it a million times, and preached it a few, but I do believe it. No matter what your job, your ministry, your ambition in life – if you are a parent, the number one responsibility is to give your kids every opportunity to follow God’s plan for their life. It’s still up to them to follow and not all of them will – but this is really what it’s all about.

What makes me blog about it, is the need I feel to thank you as a church and thank the elders and the staff for recognizing that I’m first a husband and then a dad and then your pastor.

The elders have always been supportive and never demanding of my schedule as this church has grown. The staff is amazing – especially those who have been around taking up slack forever like Lonnie and Vickie and Sean. And you as a church have been so great about taking care of us and allowing Denise and I to work here and serve here, but never asked us to sacrifice our kids for Parkview.

I just want to say thanks for that. Thank you for being so much a part of Lauren’s life, and letting her be part of yours.

And to the children’s workers and youth workers that have poured into Lauren’s life – thank you!

We don’t know what the future holds for her, but I’m just thankful to have been allowed to work and stay for 18 years in such a great place to raise my family. As a PK, I don’t think she could have had it any better!

Off we go…living forward,

Tim

Providence

I’m always proud of the way Parkview takes care of the less fortunate. You will see in this weekends sermon that it was always in God’s plan for his people to take care of others. I just wanted to give you a “hat’s off” for the school supply drive.

Here is a note from Morningstar Mission – who only got half of what we collected.

Your church did an amazing job. Thank You! It will help out so much. it is an amazing thing to see how giving others can be. i was beginning to stress out about making sure every child had their needed items and seeing everything your church provided is another reminder just to leave it in God's hands.

Thank you and God bless

Jackie Kinney
MorningStar Mission Ministries, Inc

We have another opportunity to pack the food pantries NEXT weekend. Bring a sack of food and put it on your car and we’ll collect them and feed the hungry – the least of these that Jesus said were really Him when we help them.

Many of you have seen the interviews with Steven Curtis and Beth Chapman and their families. Good Morning America did a great job and they were on Larry King Live. It’s hard to imagine being able to recover enough from the tragic loss of their daughter that they can talk about it publicly, but they are – and doing it amazingly well. They obviously have deep faith. It was really good to see Will on there doing well. Here are the links if you’d like to see it.

Larry King Live
Good Morning America

We will talk this weekend about the guiding hand of God and how it works when we don’t even see it. We all have so many reminders (as we look back) at how God works all things together for good.
This Old Testament story of Ruth is a classic tale of just that.

Don’t miss it.

Tim

Life as we know it

it just goes by so fast.

we were visiting with Lauren and her boyfriend Tom last night. It's hard to imagine, but she leaves for Wheaton a week from today. They actually have a camp up in Wisconsin where they take the freshmen to have a time to really get to know each other and deepen their faith before school starts. It's a cool idea, but it means she's leaving before any of her friends. We're not getting all misty yet, and I think it will be different having this one only 45 minutes away instead of the other one down there in Country Music City.

Still, it's cause for pause. I think I just made that up. Every once in a while you should have cause for pause so that you can spend a few moments thinking about life as we know it. And how fast it changes and how good it's been. Cause to pause and wonder what it will be like.

Rachel will be home this weekend from Nashville with one of her band mates from England who is in the country for a jolly holiday. I'm taking him to his first baseball game, etc. (Sox). Should be a fun weekend (I'm still preaching the Ruth thing).

So Lauren is off to school. Rachel will be finishing her senior year at college and who knows what? Poor Becca will be stuck with us by herself for three more years. And life goes on, as we know it - as we don't know it.

I don't have anything brilliant to say about it. It's just weird - and wonderful - and the way it's supposed to be.

Tim

Getting Old

It has been an interesting sports week. Especially concerning the aging process. The Sox signed Ken Griffey Jr., and a lot of people are trying to figure out why? He’s old (for a baseball player) and even though he is a sure Hall of Famer with 600 home runs in his career, a lot of people thought it was a weird move. He proved them wrong by driving in two runs and almost knocking one out last night in his first game with the Sox, but who knows how much he has left? Someone said the Sox added another player to their “softball team,” implying that we’re a little old. We shall see.

And then there is Brett. Arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. I don’t care if you are a die-hard Bears fan, you have to admit that Favre was amazing. If we’d have had him thing would have been very different.
So he retired, but now he’s thinking about coming back. And the Packers want to move on. But he’s such a legend they can’t let him go to another team (like Griffey) so they are offering him money to STAY RETIRED.

All of it just makes me feel good about my job☺. I think about retirement, and I know that someday I will need to step away from the load of leading a large church – but I never have to stop “playing my game.” I think the sad thing for Brett and for Ken and for all sports stars, is when they have to stop playing the game that they have played all of their life. And usually they have to stop playing when they still have a lot of life left in them. So they have to go off and do something else, or coach others, or do commentary.

You and I will never have to do that! Yes, I’m including you. I know you have another job and you may not get paid to “play” for God in salary – but you are playing for God if you are a Christian and you can play for God while you do your other job. And when you are done with your other job, you will only have more time to play for God. Isn’t that cool?

We get to do the most fulfilling thing we could ever do – playing for God – forever. I will be in this game of helping people get to heaven until the day I die. I never have to retire.

Isaiah 40: 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Kids are the Kingdom!

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.”

I think that’s why it’s so much fun to work with kids. We do get to the place where life is boring as adults, don’t we? That’s why VBS is so cool here. I think the adults have as much fun as the kids do.

But this is a great scripture for thinking about all the work we’ve done here. We are told to “remember our Creator in our youth.”

We are commanded to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6

And “Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 31:2

One of the things I really love is the amount of men we have working VBS. That’s one of the reasons we have it at night so we can get people who work during the day involved. Which gets us more men hanging out.

Ephesians 6:4 - Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

I love seeing the guys dancing and singing and teaching and leading and showing the kids that they are excited about Jesus too.

I tell you, Monday night I went up to the balcony and hung out with the parents for a little while and just watched the sea of blue shirts praising God all over the place and I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of PCC. It’s just amazing to see 722 kids (with 170 more junior highers in the gym) and 479 adult helpers - all of whom are way too tired by this point in the evening – having a blast worshiping Jesus.

Thank you to all of you who worked so hard. To Lori, Jenn Otto, and Dawn Cox and the crew who work on this year round, and to all of the volunteers who cooked or taught or did something to love on these kids this week. They are “remembering their Creator in their youth,” and hopefully “when they are old they will not depart from it” (even if they do get boring).

Kids are the Kingdom,

Tim