flatline...

Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears... Well it looks like I am about to give up the ghost again on this blog. I just wish I had the time, but in reality I feel like I just dont have the time to keep up with this blog as well as I would like to. It's hard letting go because I do have fun writing from time to time, but in reality I think my mediocrity is hurting both you and I. Me, because I hate doing something halfway. You, because you don't really get all of me if I am doing this halfway. So this is the last hoorah as I am going to take this thing off of life support. Thanks you few faithful folks!!! I love you and you have a special place in my heart... Cue trumpet playing taps... Peace

I know that I love to jam the hip-hop and rap. But today I want to show you another side of me. I love Fernando Ortega. This guy is my dawg. I think this is a great video and a great song. It was a tribute to Billy Graham's wife when she passed away in 2007. Be careful if you watch this because your eyes might start to leak. ;)

Fernando Ortega - Give Me Jesus from John Schroter on Vimeo.

Holler atcha boy!

Hey guys,

Check this out. I just put a formspring page up. What is that? Good question. It's a page where you can ask me any question about anything (within reason obviously., i.e. no dirty bird questions, or psychiatric history... well i actually might answer that one) Anyways, here is the address.

http://www.formspring.me/normtumlinson

Ask me anything(almost)!
What's my hair color of the month?
What's my homewtown?
Who's my favorite existential writer before 1800?


;)> happy questioning. Ill try to answer within the week.

New Series: Rise up and go

I cant tell you how excited I am about this new series in GraceSTUDENTS. I am just beside myself with anticipation. I really think that this will be a great way for us to kick off the year in student ministries and I hope for the year to come.

the small things...

I was listening to Shane Claiborne today (If you are wondering... yes, I am still nursing my hurt back.) and he made a statement that was so meaningful to me. He was talking about working with Mother Teresa and how she cared for so many people. And in talking about her he said she was not about doing a "great" work for God (of all people she certainly has a reason to boast about her great impact) but she was about doing small things with great love.

If I am honest, I am not really interested in the small things. I want to do BIG things. But we can do all the biggest things in the world, but if we don't have love, it means nothing. It got my head to thinking. Why do we so easily overlook the small things? Many times you hear a person who almost died or a person who has come back from cancer and they always say. "I now remember to enjoy the little things."

I can't help but think this is where God really resides... in the small things, with great love. Look at Jesus. Why in the world would God choose to change the world, by sending his son to be a baby? A small, squawking and helpless baby? The GREAT BIG God contained in a little baby boy. What a contrast of power!

Maybe we need to ask God to help us to have great love in all things small. Whether it's a simple 'hello' to a stranger, to give someone our coat if they are cold, or to just put someone first it all matters to God. Maybe that's a good lesson to learn this holiday season.

You know you really gets this. My wife. She lives by doing small things with great love. When I am hurt or sick I get really selfish. I want things to be my way... like now! I hate being stuck in bed and I get all grumpy. Even with all that, my wife has taken care of me these last few days with great love. I need to learn the lesson from her, that small things are all around us and we can do these things with the great love that Christ has provided to us. This is the love of Christ.

Thank you Kim, you teach me to be more like Jesus.

Snips and Snails and puppy dogs tails? Really?**

I have no kids. No teenagers. There I said it.

But, what I do have is at least 12 years of experience working with countless adolescents from church and school settings. And I know all parents are down with getting any info they can on dealing with middle school boys. So here are a few things that I've observed and like to throw in the mix for you.

1. Guys will be guys.

Teenage guys have mad energy. They just need to move, be crazy and have fun. I know this is a big "doy!", but I have seen many parents fight against letting their student be a typical teenager. He's a boy, who is growing, learning, struggling to be a man.

The teenage years should be (with Godly supervision and encouragement) a testing ground of sorts. You can't expect a kid with a super surge of hormones, growth spurts and cognitive growth to just be a sweet little angel. Uh Uh. Ain't gonna happen.

2. Guys need community.

Guys like to run in packs. I had a roomate in college that I used to make fun of because where he grew up they had a group of friends called "the wolfpack". I still tease him about the name, and no I won't change my mind. But seriously, guys have this brotherhood mentality from early adolescence on. They need a tribe of guys who will validate them as masculine. They need to experience a heart connection with other guys that they can't get at home.

3.Guys need real leaders.

In my experience there is no better time then in adolescence for fathers and older men to come alongside of guys. A mentor is there to impart wisdom, character and encouragement to a young man. Guys need mentors who will walk the narrow path with character and faith and will show them how to do the same. (PS we still need guy leaders in GraceSTUDENTS, so man up!)

4. Guys need to be loved.

The only way a teenager can learn to love is to be loved.

I have a quick rant to fathers. You may feel that you learned tough love from your strong, silent type dad, but to replicate that type of love to your son is NONSENSE. Tell your boy you love him. Spend real quality time with him. Be a real man and give him a hug and let him know intimacy with his dad is a good thing. Kids are learning so much about love at this stage in life. So I implore you to love on your teenage sons. They will learn how to love God through their relationship with their parents. Trust me.

If you are parenting teenage boys know that my heart and prayers go out to you. If you ever need someone to bounce things off of, or just need encouragement I'm here!

** a great resource to check out is "Teenage Guys" by Youth Specialties.

just walk across the room...

Recently I have been challenged to reach out and tell more people about Jesus. I mean really impact my spheres for Christ. It is so funny because this has been on my heart and just recently Mike challenged us as a staff to have spiritually meaningful conversations with people we might not normally do so. Wow. Talk about a challenge!

Why is it important? Take a walk with me...

See, there was this young man who moved away to college and was assigned to one of the craziest dorms on campus. He did have a few friends from home at the same school but, all they liked to do is party. So the first few weeks went on like a blur between partying, eating, partying and oh yeah a class or two here and there.

But then someone who lived on the floor above this kid decided to befriend him and walk with him even though they did not have a whole lot in common or even believe the same things. But that didn't matter because he didn't care, he just wanted to be his friend. Later on that fall the two became better friends and day by day they would talk about things that really mattered and one day this guy shared the gospel with this crazy kid. And guess what? It changed his life forever.

My friend Mat walked with me and talked with me. He didnt have to. In fact I dont know if I would have come up to me because I was pretty messed up. But my friend Mat walked across the room and became my friend. Despite the fear he might have had, or anxiety, or fear of rejection he came to me and became my friend. This altered the course of my life forever. If you are scratching your head still, I was the crazy kid who drank his first semester away, I was the kid who someone had the guts to walk across the room and talk to.

You can walk across the room. You can reach out and talk with people you might not normally talk with. God has placed someone in your path right now that you can talk with and minister to that does not know Christ. If you feel like you dont have that person, pray. pray. pray. We need to be burdened for people around us again, because hell is a real place, but so is heaven and God is real. Reach out!

For more resources you can check out this book or look here, here, here for resources.

Pillar Two: Build Relationships

This is a second blog post in a series. These talk about our core values as GraceSTUDENTS, but can be applied to any Christ-follower, at any age.

2. Build Relationships

God designed us with a need for intimate relationship. In fact God in His very nature is in relationship. (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) As Christ followers, we are brought into a relationships with God the father through his Son.

If we are in Christ then we are designed to build relationships with those around us to continue the process that God designed. And let's face it. Life is easier when we have people that are willing to walk along side of us and help us through the hard times.

We offer small groups in GraceSTUDENTS to help teens get connected with other students. But the truth is you can build relationships just about anywhere. The main thing we want is for students to build deep, meaningful and intentional relationships with other students. (and by "intentional" I just mean that we take care in how we handle friendships and know that what we do really can effect others).

An important thing to remember is to build relationships with those in the faith. We need people that have our back and understand what it means to be a student of the cross (a daily Christ-follower). We need people that can be praying for us and that are willing to hold us accountable. These relationships will be like water to us in dry times.

So if you don't have a group of friends like this, check out our small groups at Grace Fellowship. You will be glad you did!

Fantastic!

We had a great small group kickoff party last night! If you missed it, you are just gonna have to make the next one! ;) Anyways just wanted to lay down the times of the Middle School small groups for you so you can see what dates and times* they are going down.

Monday Night (7th/8th Boys) @ 6:30-8:00

Brent Upham/Dan Hoyle

Tuesday Night (Girls) @ 6:30-8:00

Kim Tumlinson/Sheryl Parker

Wednesday Night (6th Boys) @ 5:00-6:30

David Touchton/Norm Tumlinson

Thursday nights (Girls) @ 6:30-8:00

Julie Sienko/Ginger Wright

*once you pick a night you need to commit to that night for the rest of the semester. no exceptions

**for safety purposes locations are not listed on this blog. For specific locations please email students@gogracefellowship.com