Latest / Mission SONlight CHATT / Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 36 Tim Mayne - Fire Chaplain

Transcript

Mission SONlight Chatt Season 4 Ep. 36 Tim Mayne - Fire Chaplain · Mission SONlight CHATT

0:12
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media
0:14
Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center. We are
0:17
in the General Conference Session Exhibit Hall
0:20
in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States.
0:22
This is the large business meeting of the Seventh
0:26
-day Adventist Church that they hold every five
0:28
years. And we're here in the Exhibit Hall with
0:30
many other ministries and members who are interested
0:33
in sharing how God is working in their lives.
0:36
One of those ministries is Adventist Chaplaincy
0:39
Ministries, and my friend Tim Mayne is a chaplain.
0:43
You are not just any chaplain. You are a pastor,
0:46
an ordained minister, and you work in the segment
0:50
of fire chaplaincy. Is that a fair way to describe
0:54
it? It is. I actually am still employed as a
0:57
pastor. I pastor Tillamook Adventist Church,
1:01
and I am a volunteer fire chaplain. Also a volunteer
1:05
firefighter. I drive the engine. I enter. I do
1:10
all the stuff a firefighter does. And then chaplaincy
1:13
is something I offer to my department. Amen.
1:15
Wow. And let's just get this out there. It is
1:18
the Tillamook that those who love dairy. It is
1:23
Tillamook cheese. That's where it comes. They
1:25
say the land of ocean breezes, evergreen trees,
1:29
cheddar cheeses, and praising Jesus. I'd have
1:34
to roll that tape back and hear that again. So,
1:37
Tim Mayne, you are a firefighter chaplain, and
1:39
we're glad to have you today. I'm Christopher
1:41
Beeson, your host, of course, of Mission Sunlight
1:43
Chat. And my colleague, our director of production
1:46
over there, is Jordan Wagner. And, Jordan, it
1:49
is quite busy out here in the exhibit hall today,
1:53
isn't it? As folks listen, they're going to hear
1:56
all that background noise. Well, that's good
1:57
background noise, right? It is. We're trying
1:59
to keep some of it to a minimum, but we'll work
2:01
with it. Yeah, we're excited to be here and be
2:04
able to tell these stories. Tim, before we get
2:06
started on hearing your story, would you pray
2:08
for us? I would be happy to. Father in heaven,
2:11
I just want to thank you, Lord, for the blessings
2:13
that you give for the multiple folks that are
2:17
here from all over the world. It reminds us that
2:20
this is a message that is very big, that is worldwide,
2:23
which is part of that great commission. Lord,
2:26
we long for your soon return, but until then,
2:28
keep us strong, help us to have courage, and
2:31
to see the opportunities to serve you in multiple
2:33
areas. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
2:36
Again, Tim Mayne, you are a firefighter, a pastor,
2:39
a chaplain, and you are providing chaplain services
2:43
to, is it the Tillamook Fire Department? I'm
2:46
actually in the Netarts Oceanside Fire Department,
2:49
which is, my church is in Tillamook, which is
2:51
just seven miles down the road. and a small hamlet
2:54
up against the ocean itself. So our district,
2:58
actually, we do a lot of water rescue, rope rescue,
3:02
cliff rescue, of course, motor vehicle accidents,
3:07
fire, medical, all of that is our area. So I'm
3:11
actually a scuba diver. Jordan is a scuba diver
3:13
as well. When you say you do water rescue, do
3:17
you do some scuba? I actually am a scuba diver
3:20
when I lived in Guam. Oregon's too cold for that
3:23
for me. Dry suit? Yeah, we have a dry suit. And
3:28
we have jet skis. We have a Zodiac. We also work
3:33
real heavy with the Coast Guard. They're on our
3:36
channels. We can call them in when it's something
3:39
that we need more help. We bring in the Coast
3:42
Guard. Okay. Very good. So when you say you provide
3:47
firefighter chaplaincy, what does that mean?
3:50
What are you doing? So, anybody who's in an EMS
3:56
ministry or EMS occupation, position, volunteer,
4:01
full -time, you are going to be dealing with
4:04
PTSD. We see things that somebody might see once
4:08
in their life. We're seeing them all the time.
4:11
And we catch you at your worst time, trauma,
4:14
car accident, bad stuff, CPR that didn't work.
4:20
Most of my job deals with the firefighter himself,
4:23
making sure he's okay, making sure he has the
4:27
resources, making sure that the I am fine is
4:31
not where we stay. We have a saying that says,
4:34
I might be fine for this one, I might be fine
4:36
for that one, I might be fine, fine, fine, fine,
4:38
fine, until I'm not, and then all of these that
4:41
used to be fine are no longer fine. And so my
4:44
job is to just kind of check in on you. Make
4:47
sure that you dealt with this particular crisis
4:52
or situation, that you are dealing with it. We
4:55
don't let anyone just pass it off as nothing.
4:58
These are all traumas to us. And with training,
5:02
we can, what we call post -traumatic growth.
5:05
You can grow out of all of these traumas. You
5:07
don't have to be consumed by them. When you say
5:11
traumas, what kind of traumas would come up with
5:14
your work? We had a brand -new firefighter. Her
5:19
first call as an EMT was to a baby that was born
5:24
in the house and did not survive. And so her
5:27
and I went in together. You begin to do CPR on
5:31
an hour -old kid, that is traumatic. And if that's
5:37
your first EMT call, that is some pretty hard
5:41
stuff. And then, you know, we don't always. We
5:48
don't always do rescue. Sometimes we do something
5:51
called recovery, which means, again, if you've
5:54
not dealt with somebody in that condition, it
5:57
can be traumatic. And we bring in, in my particular
6:00
fire station, we have a residence training program.
6:04
So a lot of 18 -year -old, 20 -year -olds come
6:06
into this for the very first time having no exposure
6:10
to traumatic events. Kids think that they want
6:15
the adrenaline rush that comes with fighting
6:17
a fire, but there's a lot more to it than just
6:19
that. And 85 % of what firefighters do in any
6:22
city, rural, I'm a rural firefighter, is medical.
6:28
And for us, of course, a lot of it, summertime
6:31
is on the water. I have a small bay, and there's
6:34
a lot of clams and crabs, and people go out and
6:37
don't pay attention to a tide. And our tides
6:39
are drastic. So you get caught on a sandbar.
6:43
We had a family get caught, five people, and
6:45
by the time we got to them with a Coast Guard,
6:47
they were up to their neck. And about 10 minutes
6:50
more, it would have been tragic. Sure. So, you
6:54
know, it's varied. So I'm just curious. I've
6:59
had some grief experiences in my journey, and
7:03
I know that it was important for me to have presence
7:06
nearby. Do you deal with, besides trauma, do
7:11
you deal with grief situations? Yes. Because
7:14
every single firefighter, every single person
7:16
comes with a host of family issues with their
7:19
own personal lives. And again, I have spent time
7:26
with some of my firefighters who have passed
7:28
issues. What makes you have a lack of self -esteem
7:32
or a lack of confidence? And we work through
7:36
some of that. But we all come with a long history.
7:39
We are not an isolated... I'm not a firefighter.
7:42
I'm everything. That brought me to this point.
7:46
I see. What would you say your greatest challenge
7:51
is with being a firefighter chaplain? Greatest
7:56
challenge would be to, for me, I'm a pastor,
8:00
41 years, still pastor of church, is to shut
8:03
up and not try to fix everything instantly. Now,
8:08
it's a funny thing because on the fire department,
8:09
our job is to train, train, train, and to fix
8:12
it. Yep. With pastoral ministry, sometimes we
8:15
have a tendency to, I want this fixed in three
8:19
sessions. And that's been my biggest challenge
8:23
is my job is shooting my mouth off. Now it needs
8:26
to be to listen. And that's one thing Adventist
8:31
Chaplains has done. And we just finished the
8:34
convention. I took a lot of classes on trying
8:37
to spend more time listening to people's story
8:39
and not trying to fix their story. So as a minister,
8:43
that was one of the things that I also found
8:46
myself challenged with. But then when I found
8:49
myself exposed so emotionally, so raw from my
8:54
own grief, I lost my spouse four years ago and
8:57
some other circumstances around that. And what
9:01
I really just wanted was presence. I didn't want,
9:06
I wanted God to fix some things, but the people
9:09
around me, I just wanted presence. And so you
9:10
find yourself in that situation where you're
9:12
just being present. being available, being an
9:15
ear if they want to speak, but not necessarily
9:17
doing all the speaking. And a lot of times it
9:20
is exactly what you just said. Can I sit with
9:23
you? Yes. And I always ask permission. I don't
9:26
assume that I'm the chaplain and they want it,
9:28
but they know I'm not going to leave them alone.
9:32
I'm going to continue to ask until I'm sure that
9:35
you're okay. You're okay. But you're right. A
9:38
lot of times I just need to be there. And you
9:42
mentioned earlier a young lady on her first call.
9:46
So you work with both genders. You work with
9:51
a variety of people from different walks of life.
9:55
And you can't work in a judgment zone. You have
9:59
to work in a human need zone, regardless of what
10:03
your belief or doctrine may be on a certain situation.
10:07
We're here to love people. Absolutely. So one
10:11
of the beautiful things I always tell, and I
10:12
just did a big, huge Pathfinder Campery event
10:16
in our area, district coordinator event. They
10:20
came to my fire station, and I always give a
10:23
little thing that we no longer use the word fireman.
10:27
It just doesn't exist. It is a firefighter. And
10:30
you can be male, female. You can be, we have
10:35
atheists. We have people of multiple different.
10:40
religious backgrounds. They know that I'm a Seventh
10:43
-day Adventist pastor, but they also know that
10:46
that's not what consumes me. I am interested
10:49
in you and your walk and often what brought you
10:52
here. I've always loved people's stories as to
10:55
how you got to where you got. And so, yeah, we
10:58
work with everybody all the time. And when I
11:00
answer a 911 call, I can't make a judgment as
11:03
to how you present yourself. I want to talk more
11:08
about your background and also what it means
11:10
to be an Adventist chaplain. But we'll come back
11:12
to that in just a moment. I want to thank those
11:14
who are listening and viewing our program today.
11:17
We are at the General Conference Session Exhibit
11:20
Hall, which means we're in St. Louis, Missouri,
11:22
outside of our regular studio. And there is lots
11:24
of activity around. You can hear the different
11:27
vendors talking amongst each other with the guests
11:31
that are in the exhibit hall. And even next door
11:33
to us here, we have a guy with some electronic
11:35
drums. some of that playing in the background
11:39
as well. So lots of activity, lots of interesting
11:41
things sharing. He's sharing some of the tools
11:44
that they can be using for worship in their churches.
11:48
You may not choose that, but you could. Anyway,
11:51
we want to invite you to connect with us at missionsunlight
11:54
.org. You can give there. You can also connect
11:56
with us at 1 -423 -855 -4877. Hello at missionsunlight
12:01
.org. And we love... hearing from you. Click
12:04
the share button. Let somebody else know if you're
12:05
enjoying the program today that they can also
12:07
listen or watch along. We'll be back with more
12:10
Mission Sunlight chat. Being a media missionary
12:21
can mean many different things. It means the
12:25
love of a home at the heart of the planet, the
12:28
intrepid spirit of a village and the vibe of
12:31
a great metropolis. It means camera one and camera
12:35
two. It means transforming a school, orphanage
12:39
or hospital. It means fire, rain, ice, and snow.
12:44
It means gifts by the dollar and by the check.
12:48
It means donations that roll and donations that
12:52
fly. It's a movement on a trail or down a motorway.
12:58
It means family. All of us together. And individually.
13:04
It's who you are or who you are becoming. And
13:09
to her, it's a simple gesture. That means hope.
13:12
Whatever it means to you, being a media missionary
13:16
means more than you might think. Welcome back
13:27
to Mission Sunlight Chat here at the General
13:29
Conference Session Exhibit Hall. Lots of hustle
13:31
and bustle as people share in their ministries
13:34
and learn more about ministries and various things
13:37
happening both in the work of the church and
13:40
also with lay people and businesses that are
13:43
here to share in the... bigger, wider scope of
13:47
the community. One of those groups is Adventist
13:52
Chaplaincy Ministries. Tim Mayne, you are with
13:54
Adventist Chaplains because you are an Adventist
13:56
chaplain. You are a pastor who accepted the chaplain
14:01
journey. I would say you chose it, but in your
14:04
case, it chose you. It came your way because
14:07
you're also a firefighter, and they said, we
14:09
need a departmental chaplain, and you were, okay,
14:13
I guess that's what I'll do. I can handle that.
14:17
Tell me, Tim, you haven't always been a chaplain.
14:19
You haven't always been a pastor. Give us a little
14:22
bit of a picture of your early years, growing
14:23
up and so forth. Bring us to where you are today.
14:27
Well, I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Born
14:29
and raised there. Baptized at six months old
14:34
as a Methodist. Okay. That's interesting. My
14:37
parents were Methodists when I was younger. Good
14:39
folks in the Methodist church, I will say. They
14:42
are, and I always tell everybody my folks were
14:45
Wesley Methodists, not First Methodists, not
14:47
United Methodists, but real Methodists. But my
14:51
mom suddenly died, and one afternoon left my
14:55
sister, myself, and my brother. My dad is an
14:58
old farm boy from Wisconsin, and I think didn't
15:01
have very many resources. He married, I think
15:04
the first person who came along was Willing,
15:06
and it happened to be a Seventh -day Adventist.
15:09
Okay. Happened to be an extremely bad experience.
15:14
Probably one of the worst people I've ever met
15:16
in my life. I did her funeral, and when I did,
15:18
it was a funeral that said, it's very sorry to
15:20
die when nobody cares. Wow. It was a horrible
15:24
experience. But I was sent to Sabbath school.
15:30
I went to Pathfinders. I was put into church
15:32
school. And I'm one of those people, my grandma
15:36
told me, Salvation Army grandma told me, Tim,
15:40
you were always a spiritual person. I just seemed
15:43
to gravitate toward wanting to know who God was.
15:46
I believe that, again, Sabbath schools, Pathfinders,
15:49
church school did a really good job. I actually
15:51
had good teachers, good leaders, good people
15:54
in a very big church in Michigan. I went off
15:58
to academy. I lasted one year, my junior year,
16:01
and then I decided I knew more than everybody,
16:05
grew my hair as long as I could. That was what
16:07
you had here? It was. It happened to be the 70s.
16:10
And that was very important in the 70s. And bought
16:13
my first motorcycle and left home at 16. Got
16:17
a little place to live and started working. But
16:20
I was so bored because all my friends were church
16:22
school kids that I went back and got a full -time
16:24
job at the academy and hung out there until everybody
16:27
graduated. Then got a job in a factory. No one
16:32
in my family went to college. We just didn't
16:34
even think about that. Something we even thought
16:37
about, I don't think. But I ended up cutting
16:39
steel in a steel mill. The foreman wanted me
16:44
to join a union. I wouldn't do it. Today I would
16:48
probably have a different opinion, but back then
16:50
I wouldn't do it because I was an Adventist.
16:52
Come to find out, my union steward was a former
16:54
Adventist. Took me under his wing and said to
16:57
Tim, either sign the paper or do something different
16:59
because this ain't going to work. And it was
17:02
about that time somebody challenged me, sell
17:04
the bike, cut your hair, go to school. I laughed,
17:07
put the price of the bike so high nobody should
17:09
have looked at my motorcycle. Sold within a day.
17:13
The guy didn't even argue. I believe an angel
17:15
got a really good Honda 750. But I went off to
17:20
Andrews University to take biology. I wanted
17:24
to be a veterinarian. Never really liked people
17:27
all that much up until that point. Somebody forgot
17:30
to tell me that it would have been better not
17:32
to buy a horse my first year. I rode. I didn't
17:35
study. My grades kind of reflected that. And
17:38
vet school, eh, whatever. After a year, ran out
17:41
of money. Somebody dared me, and it was a dare,
17:44
to be a student missionary. I had gone from Michigan
17:47
to Wisconsin. We didn't go anywhere. That's the
17:50
extent of my travels. My aunt and uncle had just
17:53
adopted a little Korean boy, so I signed up and
17:56
became a student missionary in South Korea. I
17:59
came across the kindest, most gracious. Adventist
18:03
pastor I had ever met in my life. Pastor Chun
18:07
Jung Kwan and his wife were just two of the most
18:10
beautiful people I'd ever met. And we had to
18:13
teach Bible and we had to preach. I just realized
18:18
I was not afraid to stand up in front of people
18:20
and say. And then I looked back and realized,
18:23
man, I remember this stuff. I left Korea confused,
18:29
went back to Andrews, tried to get back into
18:31
biology. But then I started asking, can anybody
18:34
teach me how to know Christ? I don't want to
18:37
know more about him. I feel like I was full of
18:41
facts. And slowly started to change, take more
18:47
religion classes. And one day the head of the
18:50
religious department asked me, he said, you're
18:52
not in anything. We don't know who you are, but
18:54
we see you in every class. And then I met my
18:56
wife. My sister made me date her. and she had
19:01
always wanted to be a pastor's wife. Her dad
19:04
was a missionary pastor, and she loved her father
19:06
and never really rejected, loved the life she
19:09
had. So I met a lady who wanted to be a pastor's
19:12
wife, and my senior year, finally I switched
19:15
to religion major. And we got married that year.
19:21
She's a nurse. I did not marry a nurse. She fit
19:25
the profile. No, yeah, I know, but I was in theology
19:27
then. I used to tell everybody, she's good with
19:29
kids, she plays the piano, she's a nurse, whatever.
19:32
My first wife was a pastor's wife, and when we'd
19:35
go in to interview with the church, she would
19:37
say, I'm not a nurse, I don't play the piano.
19:41
Just to get that off right from the beginning.
19:43
Well, I had a nurse and I had a pianist, but
19:46
anyway. Went on to seminary, got sponsored by
19:51
Rocky Mountain Conference, went to Colorado,
19:53
Wyoming, which I had never been to. It was beautiful.
19:57
But it was very interesting because there in
19:58
Colorado was a mortician. I do a lot of funerals
20:01
for him, which is a different story and a funny
20:04
story, but I won't tell that one. But he's the
20:06
one, he ran the ambulance out of the fire department.
20:09
his funeral home, and he told me one day, he
20:12
said, Tim, you pastors don't do anything. You
20:14
sit around, you wait until Saturday so you can
20:17
talk for half an hour. Why don't you join the
20:18
fire department? And I had no public service
20:22
people in my family, and I went down and just
20:25
spent one day, and I was deeply moved. I was
20:28
impressed, and they taught me how to drive fire
20:31
trucks, pull hoses, put out fires. A lot of lightning
20:36
strikes in Colorado, so we did a lot of mountain
20:37
climbing. Left there, took a mission call to
20:43
Guam, South Korea. Adopted my daughter in South
20:46
Korea. I've got three sons. One's a pastor, oldest
20:49
one's a pastor near me in my district. The other
20:52
one's an Oregon State Trooper. I've got a firefighter,
20:55
and my daughter's in charge of events and coordinating
21:00
plans for Lions International. They all live
21:03
within an hour and a half of where I am now.
21:05
My cop son, his goal in life is to give me a
21:08
speeding ticket, but he hasn't caught me yet.
21:10
His friends have stopped me, but he hasn't caught
21:12
me. So I've got a son and a son -in -law who
21:16
are firefighters. The son is also a medic on
21:20
a bus, an ambulance. We call them buses. And
21:24
then I've got a son -in -law who's also a police
21:27
officer. I was a police officer. Lots of law
21:31
enforcement and medical personnel in my family.
21:34
So I'm identifying and connecting with the balance
21:38
of what you're talking about, both ministry and
21:41
public service. And the fun part for me is, well,
21:44
it's not fun. I don't want to get too wrong on
21:46
that. To go to a motor vehicle accident and have
21:48
my son be the cop has always been fun. It's neat
21:51
to work together with family, even if it's in
21:53
a tragic. I just remind him that the fire has
21:57
control of the scene until we decide to let him
22:00
have it. Dad's still in charge. Oh, yeah. Well,
22:05
so you did this, and so you were pastoring. How
22:12
many years before the firefighter connection
22:14
came into your pastoring? Only about two, three
22:16
years. I'd just gotten out of seminary. I had
22:19
interned in Wyoming, and then I had been given
22:21
my first church and rifle in Glenwood Springs,
22:23
Colorado. So it was very soon. So it's been something
22:26
you've been doing in tandem for quite a while.
22:28
Forty years. Okay, so then you have that intersection,
22:30
but then when did the chaplaincy pick up? So
22:33
when I moved to Tillamook, where I am right now,
22:35
I, again, joined the fire department, always
22:38
volunteer fire. And I like doing it in the town
22:41
that I live in. At that time, it was kind of
22:45
funny because they had never had a pastor volunteer
22:47
before. So I quickly got the nickname Father
22:50
Tim. And whenever I got into a truck, it'd be,
22:53
oh, Father Tim's in the truck, nobody cuss. Which
22:56
I told him I didn't give a rip. I mean, language
22:58
is language. It doesn't bother me. I don't use
23:00
it, but I don't care. But anyway, I'm still known
23:05
as Father Tim. It's just what it is. It's a fun
23:09
nickname. It was. And the former chief, I started
23:11
talking to him about it because I became, I'm
23:14
getting older. It's getting harder to put on
23:16
equipment. I still go interior. I'm an officer
23:18
now. We lead the attack. But as I get older,
23:23
I realize that's limited. And so I wanted to
23:26
stay within fire service. And our new chief,
23:28
we just got a new chief. He is gung -ho for chaplaincy.
23:31
He wants a chaplain. And he's been extremely
23:34
supportive. So I've been eight years now. Chaplain
23:39
by name. So my title is Lieutenant Engineer Chaplain.
23:43
Okay. Very good. If you had someone youthful.
23:50
come up to you and talk to you about pastoring,
23:53
firefighting, chaplaincy. Would you have specific
23:58
advice for the three of those separate or for
24:01
them together? What would you say to a young
24:03
adult, male or female, whatever? So I just had
24:06
my wife. There's a Fourth of July parade in my
24:10
town right now with all my fire trucks, which
24:12
is the first time in 12 years I've missed. She
24:15
just sent me a picture of two of my recruits,
24:17
both Adventist young people, both of them kind
24:20
of trying to figure out what to do with life.
24:23
But they're standing on my engine because they
24:25
just both finished EMT and Firefighter 1. Good
24:28
for them. So they're brand new. So how I would
24:32
go about that, number one, firefighting is going
24:34
to be different if that's what you want. I really
24:36
encourage EMS service occupations. I think it's
24:42
an excellent way to serve a community. Now, one
24:44
of the firefighters who I saw in the picture,
24:46
he just graduated University of Oregon with a
24:49
degree in marketing and advertising. When he
24:52
was done, he realized, I can't do this. His mom's
24:55
a pastor. His dad's a chaplain. His sister's
24:58
a nurse. He didn't want a meaningless life. Not
25:02
totally meaningless, but it is what it is. He
25:05
wanted a more significant contribution. He wanted
25:06
something different. And so his mom brought him
25:09
over just so I could show him the station. My
25:11
chief hired him instantly because they just had
25:13
never met anyone like that. But I encourage people
25:18
to explore it. If you're in your town, go to
25:20
the fire station. Ask them, what does it take
25:24
to be a firefighter in this station? Some are
25:27
volunteers. You just show up. I just showed up.
25:30
And after a month, I was committed. They gave
25:32
me a pager. And then they taught me. My station
25:35
teaches us everything you need to know. to be
25:39
equipped to be a full -time firefighter. In terms
25:42
of chaplaincy pastoring, again, it's what kind
25:46
of setting do you want. If you are like the church
25:49
setting, which I have. I've been a fortunate
25:51
pastor. I've had nothing but great churches and
25:55
good people. And if my people back in Tillamook
25:58
hear me, this is probably one of the finest churches
26:00
I've ever been privileged to be a pastor of.
26:03
Amen. Mainly because they put up with me. I'm
26:06
privileged to serve them, but they put up with
26:08
me. But I would just tell them, you know, follow
26:10
your heart and know what it is that you're, if
26:13
you feel, especially in pastoral ministry, and
26:16
I think chaplaincy, these are callings, and I
26:19
can't tell anybody what that means. I can tell
26:22
you that if you feel called, you know it, and
26:25
you have to do this. And so you go through your
26:29
normal course. Nowadays there's volunteer lay
26:31
pastors that are becoming a big thing. If you've
26:34
got the time and you've got the skills to go
26:36
to school, I'm a great believer in seminary,
26:39
and I'm a great believer in Andrews University's
26:41
seminary. I believe that they are some of the
26:44
best, some of our best. I just went over to Andrews
26:49
University and said I loved every minute I spent
26:51
in that university and seminary itself. Everything
26:55
you can learn, grow, grow, grow. God is about
26:58
knowledge. God is about expanding. I just think.
27:02
Use every opportunity to know more about God.
27:04
In terms of chaplaincy, if you want to be through
27:08
the Adventist chaplains' ministries, you usually
27:14
have to go through the ordination route. Now,
27:16
there are other ways to be a chaplain without
27:18
being ordained. A lot of fire chaplains are not.
27:22
It does help to have a little bit of counseling
27:26
and psychology, and you need, I think, taking
27:29
classes on. What we talked about a little earlier,
27:32
how to shut up. Dealing with grief and trauma.
27:35
Yes, because that is where you're going to be
27:38
placed. Very good. We're going to take a break.
27:41
I'm being blessed by the program today. We hope
27:43
that you, as you listen and watch wherever you
27:46
are, are also being blessed. Please click the
27:48
share button if that is the case so you can let
27:50
someone else be blessed as well. We'll be back
27:53
with more Mission Sunlight Chat. Our salvation
28:04
is a day -to -day matter, isn't it? The real
28:09
principle of the Sabbath. is reconnecting ourselves
28:13
with the Creator. We must learn to abide in Jesus
28:20
now. We move ahead with our mission objectives,
28:23
recognizing that we are serving together. Welcome
28:40
back to Mission Sunlight Chat. We are here with
28:42
Pastor Chaplain Firefighter. Tim? Yes. have shared
28:53
quite a bit of your own experience. What if people
28:55
want to connect with you and ask questions? I'd
28:58
be happy to talk to anyone. I love pastoral ministry.
29:02
I love chaplaincy. I love firefighting. I respect
29:05
the police. And again, my son's a cop, so I can
29:10
say that. Get a hold of me through my church
29:15
email address. I'm happy to do that. That's pastor
29:18
at TillamookAdventist .org. Pastor at Tillamook.
29:23
Adventist .org. And that's something we can put
29:25
in the bio as well. Before we wrap up, do you
29:30
have just an encouraging word from Scripture,
29:32
just something you want to share with our listeners
29:34
and viewers? You never know where people are,
29:36
and this might be an opportunity for them to
29:38
hear something that is unique. So just share
29:40
with them. Part of what I would want to end with
29:45
or share with is that we are living in a very
29:48
unique time, and there's a lot of trauma for
29:50
lots of people. across the spectrum. And when
29:54
we reach out and answer somebody's 911 call,
29:58
I'm in a very small little village, so people
30:00
know who I am. And often it's Pastor Main. I
30:04
didn't know you were the one to show up. I actually
30:07
believe that we have an opportunity to touch
30:09
people in very unique ways if we want to, not
30:13
just in a church setting, not just, you know,
30:15
take you through ex -Bible studies and now you're
30:18
ready. But I believe with all my heart that At
30:21
this particular time, what Christ needs are people
30:24
who care. There are hurting people everywhere,
30:27
and to step in to walk with people in their pain
30:31
or in their joy. Pastor of ministry, for me,
30:34
a lot of it is joy. You just have a different,
30:38
unique perspective on that. Again, living with
30:41
the understanding we have of the end of time,
30:43
with where we are in world history. Again, I
30:47
think God is looking for people who are kind.
30:50
I teach my church all the time that the end time
30:53
remnant people will be kind people above everything.
30:57
That means accept people where they are. Let
31:00
them tell you their story. Let them tell you
31:02
their need. And then if you don't have the answer
31:05
to that need, have resources. That's one of the
31:07
beautiful things I like is I've got pages of
31:10
resources. If I can't help you, I know somebody
31:12
who can. And if I can't and they can't, maybe
31:16
somebody else can. Your hands full of things
31:21
that could actually help people is a unique thing.
31:25
I don't know if you wanted me to share that Bible
31:27
verse right now. Sure, please do. They asked
31:29
me if I would share a Bible verse. It's one that
31:31
I used to have before I became an officer, and
31:35
now my red helmet doesn't work as well. But my
31:37
fire helmet I used to have in Greek, Jude 20
31:41
to 23. Okay. That way somebody had to ask me
31:44
what in the world I had on my helmet. Ah, pulling
31:46
them out of the fire. I know where we're going.
31:48
You got it. But you, dear friends, must build
31:51
each other up in the most holy faith, pray in
31:53
the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy
31:56
of our Lord Jesus, who will bring you eternal
31:58
life. And in this way, you will keep yourself
32:02
safe in God's love. But you must show mercy to
32:05
those whose faith is wavering, rescue others
32:08
by snatching them from the flames of the fire,
32:10
show mercy to still to others, but do so with
32:14
great caution, hating the sins that contaminate
32:16
their lives. I use that one because part of our
32:21
job is to snatch you from the fire. And I believe
32:25
that part of our job as Christians is that we
32:29
have that privilege, I believe, of pointing people
32:32
to Christ, saying, do you know God loves you?
32:36
And yeah, in the midst of this trauma, in the
32:39
midst of this struggle, that's not going to be
32:41
my prime message. My message is, I am here, and
32:45
I have a God who can be here with you. Amen.
32:49
I love the word you just used. We have the privilege
32:52
of sharing. It is a duty when we know him, but
32:58
I like the term privilege better. It's a special
33:01
opportunity. It is. I've been given such a blessing.
33:05
I was raised in the Adventist church. Not so
33:08
good, but it was good. I decided God could have
33:11
sent a call porter to my family. We would have
33:13
bought the books, but however. I've been blessed
33:17
with a beautiful wife. I've got four fantastic
33:20
kids who come home because they want to, which
33:23
is what I've always wanted. I've been given a
33:26
church that is just a fine group of people. I
33:29
have a fire department that will do everything
33:32
to take care of your need. And I respect the
33:36
people who do that. Amen. Tim Mayne, thank you
33:40
so much for joining us from Adventist Chaplaincy
33:42
Ministries and from the Tillamook Adventist Church
33:44
and from the... Neat Arch Oceanside Rural Protection
33:48
Fire District, NOFD. I knew I wasn't going to
33:52
get that mouthful, so thank you very much. What
33:56
a blessing to share with you and hear all the
33:58
facets that you're working in. Thanks for sharing
34:00
your story. Thank you. This is Mission Sunlight
34:02
Chat, and we are grateful to you for being a
34:05
part of our program by listening and watching.
34:08
Also, we're grateful when you click the share
34:10
button and you let others know about it. So would
34:11
you do that now so that they can also be blessed
34:14
by this program and others that we have? We want
34:17
to invite you also to connect with us at missionsunlight
34:19
.org. You can give there, and we are blessed
34:22
when you do, and we're able to continue to improve
34:25
the program and expand where we're able to take
34:29
the program as well. So please consider giving
34:31
where you are. Connect with us at hello at missionsunlight
34:34
.org. Text us 1 -423 -855 -4877. Again, we appreciate
34:41
your presence. Know that we are praying for you.
34:43
We're asking you to pray for us as well. Thanks
34:47
for joining us. This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
34:51
This has been a Beeson Brook production in association
34:54
with Network 7 Media Center. Executive Producers
34:58
Christopher and Rebecca Beeson Roddy Scarborough
35:02
Associate Producers Jordan and Ashley Wagner
35:05
Gary and Dina Bartle Wagner. Your host today,
35:09
Christopher Beeson. Director of Production and
35:11
Audio Engineer, Jordan Wagner. To suggest guests,
35:14
topic questions, to pray with us, or to give,
35:17
visit missionsunlight .org or text us at 423
35:21
-855 -4877. You may write to us at Network 7
35:27
Media Center, Box 25468, Chattanooga, Tennessee,
35:32
37422. This has been a production of Network
35:36
7 Media Center.