Credo For Support

Chains of Glory

My best friend and I are living proof that opposites attract. He’s tall, I’m short. He’s skinny and I’m not. He’s quick and impatient but I’m slow and take my time. Our differences couldn’t have been more obvious then this past weekend. We spent an afternoon together hanging out in his basement suite. Around dinner time he suggested we head to a nearby burger joint to satisfy our hunger. He told me it was within walking distance and would only take a few minutes to get there. So I grabbed my crutches and away we went. A block and a half into our journey, I’m sweating up a storm but going as fast as I can. My best friend is resting half a block away waiting for me to catch up.

What was a 5 minute walk for my friend ended up taking about a half hour! The walk was quite a challenge for me and when I got there I was dehydrated and in desperate need of a drink. In a few days I was scheduled to do a 10KM road race so I treated the walk as training for the upcoming event. It wasn’t until our journey back that my friend starts to realize just how challenging this trek for burgers is for me.

It starts settling in that he has a much easier time getting around then his little friend on crutches. After seeing the workout I’m getting from a proverbial “run to the store,” he starts running on the spot. By doing this, he figures he can get the same effect I am. That day he had a lesson in humility and a lot more to be thankful for when he went to bed.

When people first see that I have a disability, they have an automatic inclination to find out what happened. I usually tell people I was born with a disability and wouldn’t have it any other way. Life with disability is all I know. Unlike someone who ends up paralyzed after birth, I have nothing to compare it too so I don’t wake up wishing I could walk again.

Viewing a disability as good is not a universal stance. Being in a wheelchair 24 hours a day is a source of pain for many. I once met a girl in a wheelchair who wants to be a scientist so she can find a cure for her disability. Doing so will free her from the prison that is her disability. Even though I consider it a joy to be in a wheelchair, there are some days I agree. Because of my disability, I am in prison. During those times, I’ve found comfort from the apostle Paul:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1:12-14 NIV

Paul writes this while he is in prison awaiting trial in Rome. “He had been allowed to arrange private lodging for himself; but night and day in that private lodging there was a soldier to guard him…” some in the church might view his imprisonment as a bad thing, so he writes this to let them know exactly the opposite has happened. Whenever Paul had a visitor, he would preach to them about Christ. Because a guard had to be with him at all times, it meant the guard’s duty was to watch and, consequently, listen to everything Paul was saying. This happened on and off over a two year period. During that time it became abundantly clear to everyone that Paul had a relationship with Christ. In Paul’s eyes this was how the Lord was advancing the gospel.

Paul’s prison term had another advantage. “…because of Paul's imprisonment in Rome many people had heard the gospel who would not otherwise have heard it.” Acts 28:17-30 tells us who these people are. Unbelieving Jews and Gentiles were among those Paul preached to. Other Christians were also encouraged by Paul’s boldness in sharing his testimony. This is how Paul can praise God for such dark circumstances.

I am no stranger to being an encouragement to people. One time it happened while I was at a conference in a local church. Sessions were held all over the place. Some were in the basement while others were held atop numerous flights of stairs. Stairs are not an issue for me, so I was a trooper and climbed them as necessary. At the beginning of the second day, I ended up chatting with a gentleman who attended the conference while staying at a homeless shelter. He told me he was hesitant in coming the night before; until he seen me going up and down those stairs on crutches still smiling. He went home that night and thought about what he’d seen. Considering the joy in the midst of the struggles I had, he decided to return for the rest of the conference hearing the Gospel of Christ he might otherwise have not been exposed too.

In 2 Corinthians 12, we learn that Gods power is made perfect in weakness. In sharing his weakness with the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:7-10), Paul tells them having the weakness keeps him humble. Any good that he accomplishes doesn’t come from any merit of his own. It is God being gracious to him and using him in the moment. Sometimes God does that with us.

He gives us a weakness to keep us humble. Anytime people see something good come out of it, we are shocked. How such good can come out of our seemingly dark circumstances? It is because God is using us in ways that at the end of the night when our head hits the pillow all we can say is “praise God!”

What are your weaknesses? How might God be using them to open doors to share what Christ is doing in your life?

Joy In The Morning

“There’s something different about you Tim, your not like most people around here… more people should be like you, a fighter!” I learned a long time ago that encouragement is one of my gifts from God. So comments like this shouldn’t amaze me but they always do. I struggled to find the right words as a neighbor shared this over coffee last week, and all I could come up with was “thanks.”

I would like to take credit for the times people see me as a power house, source of strength or what have you, but the truth is that strength is not my own. Psalm 121:2 says:

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

I have a couple “friends by book” … I guess they are more appropriately “friends through circumstance,” who share the same scenario as mine last week. One of these friends is Joni Eareckson Tada. Being asked the same question she often shares this story:

“After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 a.m., I’m alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 a.m. That’s when a friend arrives to get me up…While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, ‘Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don’t have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don’t have a smile to take into the day. But You do. May I have Yours? God, I need You desperately.’ I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It’s not mine. It’s God’s. And so,” I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, “whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning.”

One of my newer “friends via circumstance” Nick Vujicic says, “Anything good that you see in me, is not me as a Christian, its God being gracious and showing up in me.”

I too echo the words of my comrade’s. My life isn’t always a bed of roses. I have days where I get down in the dumps and go through the motions, just waiting for the day to end. In my life its true, any strength or encouragement you see in me, does not come from me. It’s God using me in the moment. The reason and how fore is meaningless. Your strength or encouragement is all that matters.

cool new wheelchair

someone should bring this to canada

John Calvin and Calling: An Absolute Truth?

Theologian John Calvin once wrote: “And surely we may then safely triumph over our enemies when we are assured of having the call of God to the office which we hold, or the work in which we are engaged."

I don’t claim to be a Calvinist but as I was reading this (as difficult and wordy as his writings are); it leapt off the page at me. As far as I can remember, I’ve always struggled with God’s call in my life. When I entered college I was dead set on graduating with a youth ministry degree. This became my goal due to an influence by my own youth pastor. Prior to entering college my youth pastor told me she received a word from God regarding my future. Now she never claimed to be a prophet, or have the gift of prophecy enabling her to speak a word into lives, having it unequivocally come to pass 100% of the time. One of the things she shared was God wanting me to graduate with a youth ministry degree.

Fortunately, that part came to pass – but with some struggle. More then once, I questioned God’s call on my life to go into youth ministry. Every time that calling came into question, God confirmed that I was in the right place completing an appropriate call on my life. As I continue to follow God’s leading, I question Calvin’s above statement.

In a recent job interview, I was asked by the potential employer, after spending nearly a decade getting my degree, why I’m not pursuing a career as a youth minister. I responded by saying, since graduating, I feel a need to work within the disability community. Expanding on that thought I feel the need to use my gifts to bless them, and help usher them into God’s kingdom.

With this “change in calling,” on my mind I wonder if Calvin’s statement is absolutely true. That is, 100% true 100% of the time. Evaluating my current place in life, I find myself in a place where Calvin’s thoughts on God’s calling could be true. I’m currently involved in two churches. One works with the disability community helping to Guide them into God’s Kingdom. The other place of worship is in need of a youth minister and is a venue to exercise my years in Bible College and training in youth ministry.

After much prayer and considering where my walk with the Lord has led me, to date I don’t have an answer and wonder if I ever will. One thing is certain. I do feel a need to work with both churches and that I have the blessing of God to do both. Still doubt occasionally creeps in and I wonder if I’m double dipping running the risk of burning the candle of both ends, or if this is INDEED God’s way of saying: “Hey Tim, do both!” If experience has taught me anything this struggle with my calling will be ongoing.

On The Discovery Channel

If you read any portion of my blog, it doesn’t take much to see that I’ve been on a journey of discovery as of late. Although I shudder at the thought, its definitely true that its been almost a full calendar year of asking, poking and prodding God to find out what He wants me to so with this next leg of my life. I must say so far it feels like I’ve been on a rollercoaster with plenty of dead ends/locked doors, u-turns and loop da loops. Parts of the journey have felt like dragging my legs through mud. Why can change be such a drag? This change isn’t wholly a stick in the mud though, for I have seen many grow ops (that’s my "word" for growth opportunities). I’ve experienced freedom from things that have kept me disabled, rediscovered that the kingdom of God is not only tangible but it is something that I can actually take part in. I also have a newfound joy for worship.

However, it still feels like life (for me at least) is still on the discovery channel. My good friends Erik and Bonnie popped by for a visit this week in response to an email I sent them a few weeks ago. I had asked them a question about leadership as it pertains to my involvement with the Expressions Community. In addition to vision casting about things ahead for expressions, they encouraged me to put feet to the new mission God seems to have called me to: encouraging people with disabilities. I felt deeply encouraged as we dreamed about the possibilities and wrestled with what my new mission looks like.

Together, the three of us figured that encouraging people with disabilities would need to include investing in them somehow. What does that look like? I don’t know, maybe I could buy them all some stock with their maturity date being April 1st. To what extent do invest in these people? No comprende mi amigo, but I do know I want it to be a long lasting one. So if you come across this and feel the urge to pray, feel free to do so. Until next time, this is Tim bits saying over and out!

Type Casting or Gifting?

My high school English teacher had the challenge of teaching us Shakespeare in a tangible way. Rather then just reading the script and answering the questions after each unit, we got to act it out and put it on film. Fortunately I had the same teacher for grades 11 and 12, so I got to do it twice!!! As a result, I can now say I played Romeo in high school! LOL!!!

When it got to grade 12, we decided to put the entire Much Ado About Nothing on film. It was AWESOME; we made costumes, got to help with set design, camera settings, lighting effects, sounds, fight choreography, and so on. The coolest thing was holding auditions for the parts we’d play in the film.

I landed the role of Leonato, the towns Mayor and father to Hero, who is engaged to Claudio. Since Leonato was an older man, I had to grow a beard to play the part. This made me the brunt of many jokes in the kitchen I was working in, but I was glad to do it. With no budget, we had to be creative in coming up with some cotumes, and improvise when it came to make up. I had the challenge of making my hair look grey. I decided to put white flower in my hair just before the camera rolled. Made for some interesting showers afterward lol! We even had a mock Oscar night where I won a plastic Oscar for best supporting actor =D put THAT on a resume =p

In lieu of all the fun, the director/teacher was hesitant to give me the part because of type casting. He didn’t want to give me the role because I had a wheelchair which helped create the “old man” look. Nonetheless, I landed the role and it ended up being great for more then just characterization. I won an award based on my acting… now if only I can get the REAL Oscar to notice me!

Fast forward to now… I’m out of college with a new vision or direction in life, completely different to what I expected: Encouraging people with disabilities. Finding this new direction wasn’t quick and easy like biscuit dough. It involved a lot of prayer and bible reading and seeking advice from friends. On numerous occasions people were encouraging I get involved in some sort of ministry with special needs people. Even though I am settling into the role as one who encourages those facing challenges, I can’t shake the wonder if God put me in this role as a form of type casting. That maybe I was given this task because of my disability and not because of my giftings talents and abilities. Is this all I will ever be? Ten years from now, is that all the church will see? Will I apply for pastoral positions in churches and get shot down “because I have a disability, I’d be a ‘better fit’ for working with a special needs ministry elsewhere”?

These are the questions thoughts and challenges I wrestle with while settling into my new role

Dancing With Jesus

For those that dont know, during the last week of 2009, I boarded one of these

and traveled across country to Hamilton Ontario. It was quite the trek, and although I enjoyed my time there I think I will fly next time I’m going anywhere east of Regina Saskatchewan. Before departing I had asked some people to pray for me in the hopes of learning something either about myself or God. I’m happy to report that the prayers did not go unanswered. During one of the church services I attended, I had a revelatory moment if you will.

There was a moment in the worship service when I wondered how special it would be to have the very first time I dance be at s wedding with my new bride. (If I ever find a lady special enough to marry.) Then a second thought popped in my brain. Saving my very first dance for my bride would be pretty special but how much MORE special would it be if I had that first dance with Jesus after I’m in heaven. (It would be easier too cuz then I wouldn’t worry about losing my balance lol)

Doing so might mean living the rest of my days on crutches but that’s ok, because God can use me either way. In fact, it’s been said that my witness for Christ is louder because of my need for crutches.


I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 1 Corinthians 12:7-10