Eric Tilstra

What's the point?!

2011-03-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

What’s the point!?

My wife and I were talking the other night about some of the unexpected and tragic things that have happened lately to people who are close to us. And we were asking ourselves that age old question, “why do bad things happen to good people?”. It is human nature to think these things. I found myself thinking things like, “how can someone who is so far from God seem to have everything go their way and catch every break while someone else who chases after God seems to suffer? It doesn’t seem fair. I mean shouldn’t the Christ follower’s life be one that is blessed? How can someone who doesn’t even believe in God have children and live a long, healthy life. When the person who surrenders their life to Christ and is obedient to Him gets sick and dies or struggles to have children, or loses their job, or house. And I started to get a little down and I have to admit a bit angry at how God works things out sometimes. So I really started to ask myself WHAT’S THE POINT?!

Then over the past few days God has hit me like a brick house with two things. Both of them came from a book that I am reading right now called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.

1. The first was a scripture he references which I will share in a moment. He was writing about how we as Believers get so caught up in our circumstances or the trial we are facing at the time that it becomes more important than His command in Phil. 4:4 to “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice!”. And by doing so we are sinning because we are making our trial big and our God small. And we start to compare our situation to others thinking ‘why is their life good and mine isn’t?’ Then he quoted this verse from Psalms. Ps. 73:3, 13, 16-17 “I saw the prosperity of the wicked….Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure….When I have tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me until I entered the sanctuary of God. WOW!!!

2. Then in the very next paragraph I was hit again. He writes, “it doesn’t matter what place you find yourself in right now. Your part is to bring Him glory – whether eating a sandwich on your lunch break, drinking coffee at 12:04 a.m. so you can stay awake to study, or reading a bedtime story to your kids, or in the most important moment of your life. The POINT of your life is to POINT to Him.

THIS IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!

"But" people

2010-11-16T08:28:00.001-08:00

You probably remember what happened when the spies came back from their scouting mission to the Promised Land:

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”
Numbers 13:30-31

There are always doubters for every dream. Naysayers for every promise. It was true for Caleb. And it will be true for you too.
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ANCHORS

2010-08-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

During this past weeks message I spoke about Anchors. Anchors that I believe will help us to become shored up and secure as believers and as a church as we go forward with what God has for our future. These anchors are foundational and need to be driven down deep into the bedrock of a church's identity. They are essential in the life of every person who wishes to identify themselves as a follower of Christ. Certain things are needed in each of our lives and the life of a church to keep us steady and unshaken. No matter what storms or trials come our way; we are able to stand firm; unmoved.

Here are the 5 Anchors that we talked about on Sunday

1. The Cross (the Gospel)
2. The Word
3. The Conversation (prayer)
4. The Sabbath
5. The Gift (tithes and offerings)
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Just some thoughts on life

2010-07-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

A phrase you hear all the time in sports is “playing not to lose.” This refers to a team who is either winning a game or is better than its opponent, but is so afraid of losing that instead of going for the win, they play it safe and simply don’t try to make any major mistakes. Not surprisingly these teams rarely amount to anything. They’ll win an occasional game, but not much more. And when they lose it’s usually in the final minutes of a game they could have easily put away much earlier. But now it’s too late to stage a comeback.
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Characteristics of a Missional Church

2010-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Incarnation – Missional churches are deeply entrenched in their communities. Focused on living, demonstrating, and offering biblical community to a lost world. It functions as the “body of Christ”. Representing Christ’s presence in a community.

Indigenous – it takes roots in the soil of its community. And is appropriately reflect Christ in that culture. Be careful that your existing “church” culture doesn’t look like a previous era. It should look like the world but live different from it; not the opposite.

Intentional – Be intentional about methodologies. Don’t do method by the sub-culture within the church; but by the larger culture outside the church. The most effective churches will intentionally think like missionaries in their cultural context.

We have a sender (Jesus), a message (the Gospel), and a people to whom we are sent (those in our culture)

We need to be the living body of Christ to those around us in our community
We need to grow deep roots in our community. Understand those around you and how to reach them
We should make EVERY decision based on one question. (Will this let them see Christ front and center)

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Find the City Gates

2010-03-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am borrowing a blog entry from Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church. After reading it; feel free to share your thoughts

Jeremiah is definitely one of the heaviest books in the Bible. But if you can handle the heavy parts, there are some amazing pictures and principles.

Jeremiah 17:19 is one example: "Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem."

We tend to read the Bible for content. We want to discover "what." But this is an example where you have to read for context. The real diamond in this passage, in my estimation, is "how." It's not just what Jeremiah says, but where he says it.
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Leading means bleeding

2010-02-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

Pastoral work requires dying to ambition and comfort and every other self-centered craving - for the sake of others. It means "spending and being spent" and "seeking the interests of others above my own." Whether in physical death or as a "living sacrifice," I am called to death.

Some questions I am asking myself
1. How do I lay down my life for my sheep?
2. In what way can I "die every day" for the members of Beacon, our volunteers, my children?
3. Would the death of certain attitudes, habits, or possessions enable me to serve more freely?
4. Do I need to pray for more faith to submit to the knife and let go of my life?

Holy Complications

2010-02-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this idea from Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church in Washington DC

More blessing = more complication. But it's a good complication. Sin will complicate your life in destructive ways. Blessing will complicate your life in constructive ways.

What I'm getting at is this: blessing comes with a cost. Your life won't get simpler. It'll get more complicated. Blessing comes with inconveniences and sacrifices. But I like to think of them as holy complications. That's a pretty good definition of marriage isn't it? And Tara and I have two complications named Isabella, and Parker.. It's also a good definition of ministry.

Thank God for holy complications!

Something to Think about

2010-02-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

What should our mission be?
To create a church for people who don't go to church?

If you think about it, this is problematic. It's like creating a coffee shop for people who don't like coffee. The big difference is this: The church doesn't exist for people with a common interest, it exists for people with a common problem.

What is that problem?
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Quote for the day

2010-02-09T12:23:00.001-08:00

Got this one from Newspring Church's Pastor of Creative Arts Shane Duffey

"You only believe the parts of the bible that you actually do."

Tell me what you think

Quote for the day

2010-02-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

Came across this quote from Pastor and Author Ed Stetzer

When pastors do for people what God has called people to do, everybody gets hurt & the mission of God is hindered

What are your thoughts?

Everybody Knows Now!!!

2010-02-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

Just some thoughts from my devotion time from the other day.

I started reading out of 1 Thessalonians and didn't get past the first 10 verses. I have been pouring over my message all week in preparation for part 2 of our "Don't Waste Your Life" series. And these verses just hit me in the face. It is almost the "how to" or structure to how we as a church should "BE" the church.

vs. 3 - work produced by faith / labor prompted by love / endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ

vs. 6 - You became imitators of us and the Lord

vs. 7 - You became a model for all believers

vs. 8 - Your faith in God has become known everywhere

ENOUGH SAID!

How to pray for your pastor

2010-01-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Came across this blog yesterday about how and what to pray for pastors and leaders. Totally worth the read; so check it out

http://claytonking.com/14-things-i-pray-for-pastors

Pastors need Pastors

2010-01-25T06:27:00.000-08:00

I was down in Anderson, SC last week for a Pastors Coaching Network that is put on by Perry Noble at Newspring Church. How I got into the network is a crazy God story that I will save for some other time. I went to the coaching network figuring I would be getting some much need mentoring from one of the most well known and respected pastors in the country. And the teaching I received exceeded all of my expectations. And the Newspring staff just go over the top to serve each of us that was there that day.

But I got something else out of my time there.
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The end is near!!!!

2010-01-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Well today is two weeks and one day into my time of fasting and prayer. I am taking the last 5 or 6 days to slowly break out of my fast. I will more or less be moving up to a “Daniel Fast”. Which means I will be eating only fresh fruits and veggies. I am headed down to Newspring Church next Wednesday for a Coaching Network for pastors and want to make sure I am in the best condition to travel. Besides; I don’t think the airline will let me bring a gallon of juice on board these days.
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Are you ready for the answer?

2010-01-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

"How do I know God is going to say yes to my prayers?" This is a common question many people have as they seek to have a confident prayer life. However it's important to recognize that prayer is not just about the answer, but it's also about glorifying God in the process of waiting for the answer. It is our responsibility to check our motives and believe God hears us; it is through the process of prayer that God prepares us for the answer He brings.
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Fast and Prayer Update

2010-01-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well I am entering into Day 7. The first week is almost finished. It has been tough at times. Both physically and spiritually. I keep making a list of all the things I want to eat when this is over. Things like Pizza, BBQ, Pop Corn, the crab cakes my wife was making last night. YUM!. But over all it has been ok. I do realize how much we concentrate on eating just for the sake of eating. That we live in a culture where if we are hungry, we have full refrigerators and pantries to go get something out of to fill our stomaches.
But one of the things I have not expected to go the way it has is my time with God. It has been hard to hear from Him. I keep wondering if I am praying the right things. Or am I praying too much and not listening enough? My two basic prayers are this.

1. I am willing to do whatever your Sprirt says to make me into a new wine skin with fresh wine inside.
2. That Beacon would develop a fire and a passion for reaching the lost in our community.

This morning my devotion was about praying with persistence and fervency. It was a good reminder to keep seeking the Lord for what I am asking. Jesus speaks to us in Matthew 7: 7-11 about this very thing. ASKS, SEEK, KNOCK. and it WILL BE GIVEN, you WILL FIND, and the door WILL BE OPEN TO YOU.

AGREEING WITH GOD

2010-01-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well I am in the early part of Day 4 of my fast. And it is going as expected so far. Already realizing how much time I normally spend eating something. And that food is all around us. It is quite difficult to get away from. Even though I know I am not eating; I find myself opening the frig or pantry just to look. It is interesting to see the habits we have that we may not have been aware of. I definitely think I am not though the phase of my hunger going dormant. I woke up pretty hungry today.
To be honest; I have been finding it more difficult to to have my time with God than not eating. But I am being diligent and praying hard, and leaning in, waiting for Him to speak.

I just wanted to share with you my devotional time from day 4 of my 21 day fast.

It is one thing to know God's will for our lives; it's another to live in agreement with His will. In order to enjoy the best life that God has for us, we must first understand that God does not change, but we sometimes must. Let's earnestly seek to know and agree with God's will for our lives. The level of our agreement with God will determine the degree of closeness in our walk with Him

Pray today that you can walk in agreement with God and enjoy the life that He desires us to have in Christ

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Fasting and Prayer

2010-01-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks as the pastor of Beacon doing "Pastor things". It has kept me quite busy. At times I have felt like it has been distracting me from what the Lord has been calling me to. I feel He has been quietly telling me that I could go on for quite a while with leading the music every Sunday, preaching the message, meeting the needs of the "Body" that make up Beacon. But it wouldn't get me or us anywhere. Not where He has for us to go anyway.
I have spent time asking the Lord what he wants me to do. How do I do what You want and only what you want? Where do You want us to go? What kind of church do you want us to be? And He keeps bringing me back to the same place over and over again. And I have really tried to discern whether He is calling me to this or not.
After much prayer I believe God is calling me to a time of Fasting and Prayer. It will begin on the first day of this new year 2010, and go for three weeks, and end on January 21st. I have never done anything like this before. From what I have read leading up to this; it is difficult physically, mentally, and spiritually. I believe it is what God is asking of me to bring me to a place where I can lead Beacon. When I see what Beacon could be out here on the East End; I don't see a land filled with giants and great cities with great high walls that seem impossible to penetrate. But a land filled with milk and honey. A land promised.
If nothing else; I am asking for prayer during this time. And if God calls you to also fast and pray; I hope you will obey and join with me. Even if you just fast from one thing in your life over the next three weeks and dedicate extra time to the Lord.
I don't want my life to be wasted. I don't want Beacon to be wasted. I want myself and Beacon to make God look great!

As a Single Tear Falls

2008-11-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

As a single tear falls +++ a heart is opening to God in prayer
As a single tear falls +++ requests are made to the Lord
As a single tear falls +++ faith begins to flow
A bounty of burdens layed down at his feet +++ as a single tear falls
A yearning for the lost is revealed +++ as a single tear falls
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak +++ as a single tear falls
Brutal honesty before our Redeemer +++ as a single tear falls
God is listening and answering +++ as a single tear is caught.

Say What?!

2008-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am just a nobody
who will tell anybody
that there is somebody
who saved everybody

GOODNESS "GRACE"IOUS

2008-09-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I know it is a really bad title. But that is the kind of mood I am in today.
I shared something pretty personal about myself with our church today. It wasn't that hard of a thing to do; but I found myself getting a bit emotional a few times. I think because of the scriptures I was reading and quoting from in Romans. I had never felt God's amazing grace that deep before. To read those words Romans 9:17and know that it is all about Him and whatever is done in me is for His glory AND by His grace. To know by reading Romans 8:38-39that NOTHINGcan remove His love, grace, mercy, or goodness from me. I just started to get overwhelmed by that thought today as I shared. To know that a PERFECT, HOLY God chooses to love someone so imperfect as me.
There is nothing like learning new depths about the person who died just for me.

Lets take a trip

2008-06-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

Pastor Greg really hit it out of the park today. Some of the things he said probably made people a little uncomfortable; and some people a lot uncomfortable. What made the most impact on me wasn't anything he focused on; but just part of the scripture he was reading. He referenced the passage in the Old Testament where Abraham had been called by God to go to Canaan; and after getting there and settling there, it says he felt like a foreigner there. When I heard that; God started to speak to me. What if God calls a person to get up and go to a place that he wants that person to go. It is exactly where God needs and wants that person to be. It is where they will be blessed by God beyond their imagination. But when they get there and settle there; they feel uncomfortable. They feel like they don't quit belong. As if they are constantly living in a state of the unknown. To steal a line from Perry Noble WHAT IF. What if this is what God has for his people. To get up and go by faith. And when you get where He needs you to be; you are not able to live there on your own. You need Him to be your GPS because you aren't familiar with all of the roads. You need Him to be your interpreter because you don't understand everything people are saying. To be your guide; showing you all the places that are worth visiting as well as those places that you should stay away from. What a crazy thing to think about. God sent Abraham to a place that would be called the PROMISE LAND. A place where God said he would bless him and his countless descendants. But yet it was a place that Abraham felt uncomfortable. I pray that I am obedient to where God is asking me to go; and that He keeps me uncomfortable while I am there. So that I will rely on Him each day for my need.

I wonder

2008-05-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

This Sundays message was a little different than last weeks. I felt more relaxed even though I was speaking on a topic that was tougher than last week. It felt like everything was a blur. I started speaking and the next thing I knew, I was finished. It felt more like a time of teaching than anything else. I am not sure how those who heard the message received it. I have been struggling with this. I know that we need to hear these things from the Lord. We need to be moving toward maturity in Christ. To no longer be infants who live on milk.
I believe that if we are expecting others to come through our doors who may be far from Christ; we need to be constantly in training. Moving ever closer to an adult, mature faith and walk in Christ. How can we show them what a life in Christ is really like if we are not able to be what Christ has called us to.
I am really glad that Greg is back with us this week. I am looking forward to concentrating on just leading music.
I am also excited that he is going to share his vision for our church if he comes here to be our pastor full time. And I am even more excited about June 8th. When we have our service outside at the Fairview Farm under a beautiful tent. I'm stoked about doing music outside. It should be awesome.
On another note; God has really been working on me this past week. Learning a lot about obedience. But loving every bit of it.
GOD IS SO AWESOME!!!!!

A Good Day

2008-05-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

I gave the message at church today. It felt pretty good. I am not sure how I did it though. It was a pretty heavy subject but somehow I was able to bring it to the congregation in a gentle way. That wasn't my intention. I was really trying to be fired up. Either way; I think that the people took it really well. And they have been prepped for next weeks message. It will be a more practical application message that goes hand in hand with the one I did today. I think that the whole service was a complete moment of worship to the Lord. It wasn't worship and then a message. The message was a true part of worship with the whole service. Now I have to start working on next weeks message. I think this one will be tougher to bring. I have most of it down on paper already. The problem will be how the congregation takes it. I guess it comes down to the fact that God only called me to bring the message. I'll leave the rest to Him

Learning to be "Real"

2008-05-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed how God has been opening my mind to His Word. I was reading a blog entry from Perry Noble last week were he was sharing some of his mistakes so far in his ministry career. The one that really hit me hard was when he shared how for a really long time he was trying to be like other people in ministry. Whether it was acting like them, preaching like them, or doing church like them. And that he was afraid of the thing that was inside of himself that God put there. He struggled with being the unique creation that God made him. Afraid that what God made him wasn't sufficient; so he tried to be someone else that seemed successful in ministry. He felt like he dishonored his Creator when he didn't focus on the character of Christ uniquely displayed in him.
Well I was reading Malachi Chapter 1and God just laid the smack down on my heart. All this time I have been "doing church, "leading in ministry" has not been an acceptable sacrifice to my Saviour and King. I have never thought that who God made me was good enough to answer the call he place in my heart more than 17 years ago. So I have tried to be others in ministry. Use their words, speak their thoughts, borrow their ideas. I think that it was Craig Groeschelwho once said that men called into the ministry need to hear from and speak through the Spirit first. And cautioned against just "ECHOING" things out of books or things you have heard other pastors say. I have been an "ECHO" far too long. In doing this; I have cheated God out of the sacrifice that He is due. He called me to be me. Not a weak, blemished version of me.
I am so glad He is patient with me! I am kind of slow in these areas. I am glad for the tough words in Malachi. God is really working on me. I am glad and rejoice in it.

Relevant or "Relevant"

2008-04-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

I learned something this week. And it brought me to a place where I will really be more careful when speaking or preaching Gods' word. The the little nugget of info that was revealed to me came from Dr. John Piper. Who up until this point was someone I knew little to nothing about. But I caught an interview with him and two other pastors where they took questions from other pastors. The question was posed "How do you deal with relevance at your church?" One of the other pastors; Matt Chandler; who is the pastor of The Village Church; put it like this. And forgive me cause I am paraphrasing. He said that he would rather stick to "Obedience" That way he takes care of everybody. He would rather preach being obedient to the Gospel that way it IS relevant to the 20 year old and the 76 year old. Dr. Piper took it a step further. He said that there are two sides to RELEVANCE. You can preach something from scripture and those who hear it go away saying it was exciting and impacted their live because it was relevant to them. Or you can preach scripture in a way that it is exciting and impacts and is relevant whether the listener thinks it is or not. The Gospel is relevant because it is the Gospel. WOW! I have always just tried to get my point across so that it will make people go aha! I was missing the point all along. The Gospel is relevant whether we think it is or not. The only thing we are to do is be obedient to what the Gospel says we should be for the world we live in. This simple straight up idea just floored me. I can't believe something like that has been in front of me all this time and I just never looked at it like that.
Always learning and growing.

Thought of the Week

2008-04-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, tell others how to do it”

IN YOUR FACE

2008-04-17T21:13:00.000-07:00

I learned yesterday that if you want vision/revelation from God; that your best bet in to spend time with your face in God's word, face down in prayer, and facing up the the idea that you should stay that way until God says go. And then go until He says stop. I never want to think that I have a better idea about something than God. Sometimes we tend to make our prayer time more like a brainstorming session with God. His ideas will always put yours to shame. So don't even try to compete. You will be way out of your league. It would be like my two year old planning my dinner menu verses Mario Batali. There's an Iron Chef match up for you. So lets "face" facts. Your job is to be the conduit from which the Spirit can move and work for the glory of the Father and that can't happen unless you are keeping your nose in scripture. Your ears tuned to the voice of His spirit. And your eyes fixed on Him; the Author and perfecter of everything.

Good Friends

2008-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today my good friend Adam gave up a big portion of his day to help me move a bunch of wood from my house as well as the church parsonage. Although it was a lot of work; we had fun doing it. We laughed and talked. And played some XBOX after we got finished. It started to rain at one point and I made comment to the fact that no matter what he and I plan; it always comes down to getting wet or rained on.

We also had a kick butt lunch. I treated us to a southern bbq place in town, (best fries I have ever had). We sat and talked about church and where we are headed as a congregation. We dreamed about the future; (how are church would reach people who are far from God). And what would that look like. He told me the other day that God gave him an idea for a new name for our church. The vision that the Lord gave him was "off the chain". I told one of our church elders, Harry, that I thought that the name was like an onion cause it had so many layers. God showed him that we should call ourselves "THE BEACON". When he woke up, he grabbed a pen and started writing down all of the things that came to his mind. He looked up the definition of BEACON in Websters. And he realized that his small group was going through 1,2,3 John. The Lord brought 1 John 1:4-7 to his mind. Dude, I get chills just thinking about it. I believe that a church should promote two things for those who don't know Christ; HOPE and SAFETY. We live on the very end of Long Island. At the tip of the Island is a lighthouse. It is there as a BEACON for ships seeking SAFE passage. And seeing that light beaming out from that lighthouse gives them the HOPE that they are almost back home where they belong. A BEACON is set up so people can find there way. And as we sat eating our lunch; we couldn't deny the fact that our church must be that out here for our community. Thanks Adam for making my work day lighter. And thanks for being a friend that listens for Gods voice and responds.