Timothy S. Lane
Timothy S. Lane, M. Div., D. Min.
Born in Sylvania, Georgia, Tim enjoyed a good relationship with his parents in his formative years, but he did not become involved in church until his later teens. Just before his senior year in high school, Tim became aware of his sin and his need for Jesus. God used simple salvation sermons at a local church, as well as a group of friends, to bring him to Christ at the age of seventeen.
In 1984, Tim graduated with a degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Georgia. Before going to seminary in 1987, Tim served 3 years as a staff person at an evangelical ministry where he met Barbara, whom he later married in 1989. In 1991, Tim graduated from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.
In 1991, Tim and Barbara also moved to South Carolina where Tim served as assistant pastor and then pastor at Clemson Presbyterian Church until 2001. It was during these 10 years that Tim truly began to understand and apply the gospel to his life and ministry. He learned that the blessings and difficulties of marriage, family and ministry were just the things God used to draw him into a deeper relationship with Him. He also learned how to apply God’s truth to everyday life and ministry, pointing others to Christ and his gospel of grace.
Tim, Barbara and their four children moved to Philadelphia in 2001 where they both serve at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Tim is a counselor and faculty member at CCEF and a lecturer in practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is also a speaker, the author of CONFLICT and the co-author of HOW PEOPLE CHANGE and RELATIONSHIPS: A Mess Worth Making.
- http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/t...
“Your relationships will take you beyond the boundaries of your normal strength. Encouragement gives struggling people eyes to see the unseen Christ.”
“Talk like an ambassador (Eph 4:29-30). 1)Consider the person ("only what is helpful for building others up")2) Consider the problem ("according to their needs")3) Consider the process ("that it may benefit those who listen")”
“In God's plan, our quest for personal identity is meant to drive us back to him as Creator so that we find our meaning and purpose in him.When we live out a sense of who we are IN CHRIST we live our lives based on all we have been given by Christ. This keeps us from seeking to get those things from the people and situations around us. Much of the disappointments and heartache we experience is the result of our attempts to get something from relationships that we already have in Christ.”
“Every good relationship we have is a gift of God's grace. Left to ourselves, nothing good would happen. Our problem has everything to do with sin and our potential has everything to do with Christ. Sin always draws towards self-interest. It is possible that even in our most altruistic moments are driven by what we get out of them”
“If you look for God in your relationships, you will always find things to be thankful for. When God reigns in our hearts, peace reigns in our relationships. This work will only be complete in heaven but there is much we can enjoy now.”
“reconciling grace, saving grace of Jesus"[In regards to struggles and potential in relationship],..we are sinner with capacity to to do great damage to ourselves and our relationships. We need God's grace to save us from ourselves. But we are also God's children, which means that we have great hope and potential-- not hope that rests on our gifts, experience, or track record, but hope that rests in Christ. Because he is in us and we are in him, it is right to say that our potential IS Christ. We are well aware that we are smack-dab in the middle of God's process of sanctification. And because this is true, we will struggle again. Selfishness, pride, an unforgiving spirit, irritation, and impatience will certainly return. But we are neither afraid nor hopeless. We have experienced what God can do in the middle of the mess. This side of heaven, relationships and ministry are always shaped in the forge of struggle. None of us get to relate to perfect people or avoid the effects of the fall on the work we attempt to do. Yet amid the mess, we find the highest joys of relationship and ministry.”
“The shattered relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the cross provides the basis for our reconciliation. No other relationship ever suffered more than what Father, Son, and Holy Spirit endured when Jesus hung on the cross and cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus was willing to be the rejected Son so that our families would know reconciliation. Jesus was willing to become the forsaken friend so that we could have loving friendships. Jesus was willing to be the rejected Lord so that we could live in loving submission to one another. Jesus was willing to be the forsaken brother so that we could have godly relationships. Jesus was willing to be the crucified King so that our communities would experience peace.”
“Scripture makes it clear that these responses are not forced upon us by the pressures of the situation. What I do comes from inside me. The things that happen to me will influence my responses but never determine them. Rather, these responses flow out of the thoughts and motives of my heart.”