If you go to Church at WOV on Wednesday evening you will learn many strange and interesting truths about faith and fear, God’s love, hope, our adversary, our flesh, and hogs. Together we learn how all of these elements are tangled up in our daily lives and we receive revelation that is vital for success.

Also, I was left with the distinct impression that our mild-mannered Pastor Trudy, preacher, teacher, pray-er, adviser, mom, servant and monkey bread maker was at one time in her life a daredevil thrill seeker adrenalin junky! Yes, she, along with her not so mild mannered sidekick, Pastor Jerry, apparently partook in the seeking of thrills such as leaping out of airplanes, and bungee jumping and pastoring youth! In short, our pastors are fear specialists!

At the risk of stealing her thunder, we also learned that Pastor Trudy grew up on a hog farm, so she is also somewhat of a hog specialist. This fact will be important for later on in our story.

Pastor Trudy has matured much from those early carefree, fearless years as a thrill seeker. As a result, Wednesday night she issued the following question: How many hogs can your fear stampede?

In a nutshell, there is all kinds of fear and it causes us to, theologically speaking, freak out or be weird or both. There is fear of turning our kids loose, fear of what the neighbors think, fear of not being recognized, fear of taking a risk in business, fear that causes us to sin, fear that causes us to gossip, fear that is disguised as stress, fear that is disguised as worry, fear of death, fear of our own shadow, and fear of being a moron. (Ok, I made the last two up.)

But fear is from the enemy, Satan. Fear is most definitely not from God who has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. God works through our faith. But fear contaminates faith. That is why Pastor Trudy was emphatic that God does NOT use fear to deal with us. Ever. Fear is of the Devil.

Remember the Madman of Gadara? That crazy guy who would not remain shackled because he broke his chains with superhuman power? Who lived in a graveyard among the tombs and would cry out and cut himself and run up his charge cards buying stuff to impress people he didn’t know because he was afraid of being un-cool? So Jesus cast the unclean spirits out of him and into a herd of like, two thousand hogs, who, not known for their great decision making abilities, boogied willie nillie off a cliff and drowned.

And so, I ask you, on behalf of Pastor Trudy, How many hogs can your fear stampede? I don’t think my fear could actually stampede even a small covey of hogs but at the end of the presentation I became so acutely aware of how many of my own decisions were influenced by fear, I felt the urge to run willie nillie off of a cliff and into the sea, or possibly a really big mud puddle.

But now I realize something. Fear is a huge issue. Its slimy tentacles can so easily slip through the tiny cracks in my armor and before I know it, it’s got a death grip on the Adam's apple of my faith and is choking the life right out of me. Fortunately there is an answer.

Perfect love casts out fear. When we receive a true revelation of God’s love for us, in and through the person of Jesus Christ who walked on earth as a replica of the Father God, destroying the very works of the Devil and delivering us...who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, we become free from fear and bondage.

So now I can better recognize fear and realize when it contaminates my faith. I am able to renew my focus on God’s love asking for and seeking more revelation of His love for me and my fellow brothers and sisters and all of mankind. My faith is bolstered, my fear is smashed into the sea like two thousand crazed hogs, and I am much less likely to freak out, or act weird, or worse yet, do something really crazy, like jump out of an airplane.

Men’s Breakfast fellowship

Don’t expect another Men’s Breakfast Fellowship until well past the new year because Jerry Riste, Juan and myself pretty much polished off WOV's link sausage holdings until further notice. There were several honorable mentions in the sausage eating contest that will heretofore go unmentioned. We had a fine time of enjoying a hearty breakfast and visiting about rappelling. That’s what happens when you have a fellowship with men and particularly men who have served in the military, which apparently, several have. We who had not served in the military nodded and grunted to prove, if nothing else, although not military, we were at least good honest grunting men, then we went back through the line for more sausage.

Dave asked us to share a verse from the Bible that is important to us. He shared John 3:16, ‘For God so Loved the World...” Dave talked about what it meant to him. Since I was the only one who had forgotten my Bible I had to borrow Jerry's Amplified Bible. I looked up 1st Peter 5...”Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

Whenever I read, ...”For he cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully,” I get all teary-eyed. When I share something that makes me teary-eyed I sometimes blubber. I began to think, oh great, I'm going to cry in front of all of these macho, rappelling, military guys. In the end, I had to leave early for an appointment. I swaggered out, holding a last sausage link between my fingers like a cigar for comic relief, and wriggling my eyes like Groucho Marks. It was a narrow escape but my machoness was secure as was my sausage eating record. Indecently, I consumed enough sausage, that, if strung together end to end, they would form a cord long enough to rappel down the face of Smith Rock. So I started my day well fortified, with a very meaningful passage in the forefront of my mind, remembering He cares for me affectionately and cares about me watchfully, tears and all.

~Timothy Rawlins

Prom Dress Rugby

Pastors Celebrate 20 years of Ministry.

Can you finish this sentence?

Pastors Jerry and Trudy Roberts celebrate 20 years of ministry...

...in a row?

...without coming up for air!

...expecting 20 more, then 20 more after that!

...loving every minute of it...

...without reading glasses! (developing)

...fasting the entire time!

...without a touch of gray!

...mostly attired in superman undergarments!

...and they’re not mad!

We recently honored our pastors for twenty years of ministry. They received gifts from the congregation including a beautiful handmade quilt formerly on display in the foyer. We also viewed a video presentation that featured many well known local, national and worldwide ministries congratulating Pastors Jerry and Trudy and urging them on to twenty more years. Included in that video were Pastor Sharon Miller, Kenneth Copland Ministries, Herman Holland, Brother Leon, Mike Mille’, Creflo Dollar and others. What few folks know is that I am working on a special video message from none other than the most interesting man in the world!

The camera zooms in on the most interesting man in the world sitting at a table, writing tidbits, looking smartly into the camera. He speaks. "You know, I don’t always go to church, but when I do, I go to Word of Victory in Redmond, Oregon with Pastor Jerry and Trudy Roberts. In these confusing times it takes a leader with wisdom and stature, grace and strength. A man of courage, passion, and rugged good looks with a strong, brilliant and beautiful wife by his side. But enough about me and Pooky. Congratulations, Jerry and Trudy Roberts for twenty years of ministry. May you celebrate twenty more, and twenty more after that. Stay thirsty my friends."

A Short History Lesson

It has come to my attention that many of you do not know we are currently living in the twenty-first century. To be truthful, I actually thought it might be only the twentieth century. I've always been a wee bit confused about centuries and how to know which one you are in, but a Wiki search taught me that we are indeed now experiencing the 21st century of the Anno Domini era. Or, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ.")

Ok, now we are all on the same page. I did a quick Timmy search and learned that "all on the same page" means we are "up to snuff" or mea navis aëricumbens anguillis abundat! (my hovercraft is full of eels!) I think by now you know what I'm getting at. It is the twenty-first century. Church, we have a website.

I often am shocked at the answers I hear when I tell people our church has its own website and I write a bi-monthly segment called Y’all Tid Bits from Tim for that website. Here is a typical conversation:

Hi there, say did you know I write a bi-monthly segment for our Word of Victory website entitled "Y’all Tidbits from Tim!"

Gary A: "You can actually write?"

Judy H: "Y’all?"

James J: "We have a website?"

Rod H: "There's an internet?"

Jim N: "There's electricity?"

Visitor: "HELP! POLICE!"

The website is like a fine hotel in which there are many wonderful amenities. On the Word of Victory website you will find a calendar of events, which will keep you posted on the latest meetings and happenings - even through nine weeks from now, (almost the 22nd century!)

You'll find directions to our location so now you can email a link to friends when you invite them to church and you won’t have to scratch directions on a brown paper bag anymore! Please, tell me you know what a link is.

You'll also see an entire library of books from the WOV bookstore.

A huge selection of sermons from our Pastors available on CD.

Twenty-four pages each filled with easily accessible audio recordings of speakers from Sunday, Wednesday and special services- twenty-four pages that reach clear back to January 4th of 2009 -almost the eighteenth century!

And there's more, so feel free to check it out.

I hope you've enjoyed this little history lesson. I know I have. I relish these modern times. When I first started out as a journalist we did all of our work by smoke signal, ancient hieroglyphs, carrier pigeon, and pony express. Of course in the olden days all of my tidbits were delivered parcel post, which, back then was a lame pack mule. I went on to a manual typewriter, word processor, and ultimately the internet- it’s made things much easier. Next, I will try texting my newest entry from my smart phone. Y’allTBFT!. Yes, it’s a brand new era Y'all. Welcome to the 24th century!

~ Timothy Rawlins

Cities Under Fire Rocketh the House!

Do you remember the Canadian Bluegrass/Country Band called Double Portion? They have come around almost every year now for many a year to minister music at WOV. I absolutely dig them!

Well, several brothers from Double Portion joined forces with some other cool guys and formed a band called Cities Under Fire. Picture Double Portion on steroids and massive amounts of energy drinks, only louder. Much louder. No wonder Canadians always say "Aye?"

The previous Sunday Pastor Jerry tried to warn the congregation, implying that the band, is, well, a little loud, and, ah, well, a little on the "up tempo" side. I think he was hinting that some of us older geezers might want to turn down our hearing aids if we came to the concert.

I must admit it has been years since I have been to a rock concert: the screaming, shouting, fist pumping and the screeching - and that was just the drive into church. To put it mildly, I had had a bad, bad day, resulting in my behavior falling somewhere between the spawn of Satan and a rabid hyena. My apologies to all rabid hyenas.

But, remembering the words of Pastor Jerry, condemnation is for losers (or something like that). He's never come out and actually said that. But some how I knew that if I chose to let myself feel condemned it would only make things worse, even though paying a good pouty penance usually satisfies the conscience if not the flesh and usually just feels like the right Christian thing to do. I chose to throw caution to the wind, and party. I figured, well pastor, I hope you know what you’re talking about because here goes nothing. I commenced to jumping and dancing and singing and shouting right along with Cities Under Fire. We all joined in, including many of the little bitty kids from our congregation, right on up through the youth and even the oldth and everyone in between including our honored guests. We were awesome!

In fact the band was so energizing - the atmosphere so electric you would flat have to have your hearing aid turned plumb OFF to not want to leap to your feet and raise your hands and clap them together and sing...Through YOU the darkness flees! Through YOU my heart screams I am Free! And then jump about wildly, pulling various hamstrings in your nether regions. It was so fun. Those Cities Under Fire guys are so awesome! (I’m hyperventilating here; you know how we groupie types can be.)

In the olden days they were quiet little boys that would pluck away at their stringed instruments, tap on their drums and sing melodious gospel country songs, but now they are these big men who fly around on stage singing through their electric guitar pickups and sliding the mic stand up and down the neck of the guitar while lightning fast fingers blazed across the strings. The drums were so powerful, the bass was groovy, (what? I always talk like that) and the vocals were so beautifully harmonic. Please forgive my French, (Canadian) but ya'll know how YUCKY some groups sound live? Well these guys sound like the real thing live - Amazing.

When David the lead singer took the mic and articulated that Jesus shows us what God the Father is really like and anything that is NOT like Jesus does not show us what God the Father is like, it struck a chord with me, because, in short, they get it. They are singing my song. It was like, yeah, these guys are my brothers. We are brothers in the Lord. They are the real thing, it’s not just, let’s pretend so we can be in a Christian rock band. They love the Lord. We are brothers.

So my point is, I am one of the brothers that make up the rock band Cities Under Fire. I'm the short, wild one with the pulled hamstrings. Rock on brothers.

10) Wriggle toes through sand at lakeside beach.

9) Watch Dave Ashby do the dishes for the Missus.

8) Dress up Chipmunks as miniature Rambo's!

7) Witness Mary Nash catch a huge bass. Really.

6) Listen to Danielle Biever pronounce "Carne asada"

5) Enjoy Danny tell wildly animated hilarious stories about being attacked by horses.

4) Eat

3) See Mark Curry edge out Noah Clements in no holds barred battle of "Chubby Bunny" by stuffing 10 marshmallows in his mouth. It was an "off" night. Twelve is his record.

2) Go on a boat ride with Carl or Rick. The Holy Ghost heroes of boating safety.

1) Bananas stuffed with chocolate chips in an open fire.

Kickin’ It Old School

The tireless crew at WOV has pulled off another sensational week-long Vacation Bible School. Over one hundred thirty children were immersed in games, crafts, snacks, stories, puppets, music, singing, dancing, and giving. I'm happy to report that none of the eighty volunteer helper people needed to be carted off on a stretcher.

First of all some extremely artsy person had the wild idea to transform the entire interior of the building. It was amazing. The foyer was turned into a brick hallway, with extremely realistic wallpaper (very cool) which gave the inside of the church a whole new look. I thought it was store bought wallpaper but I learned each brick was hand painted by dipping a square mop in paint and blotting it on the paper, there must have been literally thousands of them. The leadership even decided to leave them up for a few days after VBS ended because the artsy person who made the little blots probably threatened them with their lives. Some very nice Lord-exalting graffiti adorned the bricks, put there by some, no doubt, skilled graffiti artisan who redeemed their skills for the Lord. A massive, MASSIVE, the most massivest I've seen, stereo was assembled in one classroom, the puppet stage in another, and a very professional looking "Kickin’ it Old School" neon sign blazed over the stage of the sanctuary. Kickin’ it Old School?

That was the theme this year "Kickin’ it Old School" which begged the question, What exactly does one do should one decide to "Kick it Old school?" Well, I got my answer after it was all over and the children performed live on Sunday morning, singing and dancing to the rap song entitled, "Kicking it Old School" Shazam! I got it. Even if you despise rap music, or think you do, you will find yourself tapping your toe and singing along to "Kickin’ it Old School," Because the song is about being a Christian and all we need to know is in the Bible. When you see your own kids with their little friends singing and dancing with all of their precious little hearts to a song about God’s word you are overcome with the impulse to leap up and shout, "Yo, Dawg, I'm down with that!"

As a Dad, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who regularly invests their lives into my children. I don’t know what you do with hundreds of square feet of brick wallpaper. Had I been the artist involved in creating this masterpiece I would have demanded it stayed up through Easter. Maybe it was thrown away. And what do you do with a professional looking sign that reads "Kickin’ it Old School?” Trash it? I don’t know. But I do know that all the time, materials, sweat, creativity, enthusiasm, and most of all Love was sown into the hearts of all of those little children, churched and unchurched. And it will make a difference that will last forever. Yo, Dawg, I'm down with that!

~ Timothy Rawlins

Playing Hookie with a Crusty Heart

I've been struggling with what to write about because after my last two posts involving foreheads, Adams apples, and big toes I felt I needed to go in a new direction. Especially after my proposal to write a blurb about Ron Hollis' belly button was nixed at the last committee meeting.

Chairman: There will be no more posts about parishioner’s body parts, is that clear?

Me: Clear as the freckle on the end of your nose!

There has been much activity in preparation for summer activities including Vacation Bible School, a worthy topic in itself. We hosted the Full Gospel Fellowship meetings in which Brother Leon and top notch speakers from across the nation met for a plethora of lively services. Lots of us have volunteered to help in these events, not to mention prison ministry, Rodeo bible camp, youth retreats, and food distribution. I'm pooped just thinking about the duties some of you in our church perform. But I've decided to write about the worship team again and perhaps next time I will produce a piece about an important mover and shaker in our church and his little piggy that went wee, wee, wee all the way home.

Let’s take a totally hypothetical situation...say you drag into church late on a Sunday morning after resisting the temptation to play hookie. No official duties this week, hmmm, just might be able to pull it off. Actually, the only real reason you did not play hookie was because you didn’t want to set a bad example for your three kids. Shame on you. Slacker. Your mind is not really on the things of God, you are daydreaming about fishing. Your heart is not really hard through and through, it’s just a little crusty. Doing your best to enter into worship, you notice the red headed drummer, John. He is very good. Talented. Skillful. You appreciate this. As you sing, you notice the background vocals are different. The team is stretching itself musically and you are again impressed. You begin to think about the verse in Psalms. Sing a new song to Him. Play beautifully and joyfully (skillfully) on stringed instruments. You feel your heart getting softer, your voice gets louder and you start to become thankful. Then you see Mark singing, "Healing rain is falling down, I'm not afraid" and you remember Mark’s brave fight against cancer, and come to think of it Lisa battled it too. And suddenly you realize how real this worship is to members of this team, and Mark is pouring his heart out "I'm not afraid" and now you are teary eyed before the Lord. You remember what the Lord has done. No longer are you Crusty Boy. Your heart is soft before the Lord. Now, not only are you thankful you came to church, you’re ready to hear the Word and really happy the worship team didn’t play hookie.

~Timothy Rawlins

Pastor Jerry has been teaching a Sunday morning series entitled "Seasons and Suddenlys." Throughout this series one nagging question keeps pounding in my brain. “Mr. Looper, how’s your toe?”

To many of us he is known as Jacob Looper: Worship Leader and friend. But to me he will always be Mr. Looper because at one time or another he has taught all of my children music. Call me old fashioned but I believe one must never address an adult teacher by his first name.Now, on to his toe.

Mr. Looper went through a season in his life where he had this ingrown toenail from you-know-where, and it pert'near drove him batty. We used to talk about it at length because I also went through a string of ingrown toenails in my youth. During our important dialog we bonded as ingrown toenail survivors often do. Sadly I must admit that his sore toe was much worse than mine, a badge of honor to a couple of macho guys such as us. His many surgeries of biblical proportions (surely you remember the plague of ingrown toenails from Leviticus) took the cake so to speak and we had many meaningful discussions about the trials and tribulations of his big toe. It was not uncommon for the two of us to get our toes together for a jam session. My sincere apologies to anyone who actually took time out of their busy life to read that last sentence.

A few seasons have passed since those days when our ministry duties brought us together for those relaxed, friendly chats. The church has grown, and with that, new responsibilities have been acquired, old duties have changed and new relationships are being developed. Like so many friends we occasionally cross paths and make quick catch up attempts but rarely talk in depth.

Just recently my big toe became inflamed and while I was performing surgery on myself with a power tool I remembered that long ago Mr. Looper told me the story about how he came to be a member of our congregation. Seems he had been going through a season of uncertainty, stress, and loneliness right before he became a member of our church. One night he prayed that God would find him a church family where he could belong. The very next day Pastor Jerry asked him if he would like to make Word of Victory his church home. Suddenly! And that’s how he came to be such an important component of our family.

Now he has been with us for several years. Long before Mr. Looper came along, Pastor Jerry had to pull double duty as Preacher and Worship leader. I do not want to presume to speak for our Pastor but judging by the example he set, not only did he grow in faith and perseverance during this season but developed abnormally strong vocal cords which serve him well to this day. His "suddenly" came in the form of Mr. Looper.

So anyway, I just want to say thanks Mr. Looper for being such a fine and talented and anointed Worship leader. It’s nice to see you enjoying a prosperous season as a member and leader at WOV. You and the worship team do a great job. Remember that you are an answer to prayer. Speaking for all of us, I want you to know that my church thanks you, my children thank you, Pastor Jerry's vocal cord nodules thank you, and my big toe really looks up to your big toe.

~Timothy Rawlins

I have known Noah Clements since he was much shorter than me. Being a tad vertically challenged myself, I cannot say that about many people. As a wee lad Noah attended Sunday school classes that I instructed. He was always well behaved and a joy to be around. Throughout the years, when passing him in the halls at WOV, my standard joke was, "You’re 'almost' as tall as me ha ha." I often called him "Tally" because he grew so fast. I thought it a quite clever nickname, although it has been slow to catch on with the masses. Today, face to face, I look him square in the Adams apple."Hello Adams Apple,” I often say, “You used to be a forehead didn't you, bwahahaha! Now lets get to work!” Then we head out to the parking lot to park cars and direct traffic at many major church functions.

Ok, that’s not totally true. I'm always running late and he's always running early. When I do finally show up I stand around and drink coffee in my hunter orange parking attendant vest while he directs traffic. He is the single best parking attendant we have at church, bar none. I hate to tell you this, but I am totally intimidated at the thought of directing someone where to park their vehicle. It might be easier if I could do it from the comfort of my own vehicle, with the windows rolled up, but to do it in out in the open? That’s plumb crazy. What if the people don’t like me or worse, won’t mind me when I tell them where to park? Then I'd get flustered and have to go get Pastor Trudy. Or, what if I get my courage up and boldly command an important guest speaker who happens to be running a little late, to park way over yonder by the dumpster in the back forty?

So to avoid all of that I just put on my biggest cheesiest smile and wave all friendly like and under my breath I say, "heel hree to hark wherehever who want" (hard consonants don’t come out well under your breath).

Not Noah Clements. That dude latches onto any car pulling into the lot with radar lock. BOOM! Eye Contact. BOOM! Big smile. BOOM! Authoritative hand gestures that say unequivocally, “You will park HERE. NOW!” BOOM BABY!!! And the people obediently just drive right to where he motions and they park, get out of their vehicles feeling all warm and fuzzy and welcome and they have extremely good posture. It’s amazing.

He is quite a kid, in spite of his vertical superiority. We on the ushering crew hold him in high regard. It is really an honor to work with a young guy, a true young man, who shows up early, and works hard to do the right thing. He is so at ease he just laughs if things don’t go perfectly out there. Many of today’s youth are lured to a function when there is pizza involved or, in my age bracket, we require a cup of hot coffee, permanently in hand. Not Noah. He arrives early with his game face on, ever ready to kick tires and take names in the name of parking lot orderliness and safety regardless of sleet, snow, rain, or hail or scorching sun. Sometimes lately, all on the same day (and loving it). Noah Clements: Youth extraordinaire. No pizza required.

~Timothy Rawlins

The Joy of the Lord is your Immune System!

That’s right - as taught by Pastor Trudy on a recent cold, blustery, snowy, Wednesday evening. In April! Not that I'm cranky about that.

I have taken the liberty of sharing my notes, along with some random intrusive thoughts, from that service, to give you, the reader, rare insight into my thought pattern which may prove shocking since most have concluded that I have no thought pattern. Often I am asked, "What were you THINKING?"

1 Peter 1...even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy...

The joy of the Lord is your immune system.

Your body's immune system can ward off any disease if your immune system is healthy.

Joy is our spiritual immune system i.e. the joy of the Lord is your strength. AHA! (Right there is a revelation. Hmmm....)

(Do a google search for lyrics to The Jo-hoy of The Lo-ho-ho-hord is my strength)

Deuteronomy 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity....you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you... (Yikes! I totally forgot that was in there. Good thing I came. I think.)

(Stop at store on way home.)

God is not mad at us and striking us with a curse. It is the joy and gladness He requires that repels the curse! AHAH! Again.

Grief, sadness, depression, anxiety, cherry cordial withdrawal - anything withdrawal? I.E. the enemies we serve? Cannot stick to joy!

Grief, sadness, depression, anxiety, is a magnet for the curse. Maybe that explains why those of us who serve the Lord without joy can be so stinking mean. Ouch. Note to self. (Meaning you.)

Joy is not an emotion. It is a fruit of the spirit! Bingo Baby! - I knew I was missing something!

Nehemiah 8:9-12 Do not sorrow (They had good reason to sorrow - for their failure to follow the law). This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Joy is not a response - it is a direction!

(Bread, milk, small head of lettuce)

Set your heart and mind on him- John 15 - you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with Me-(find red letter Bible).

Jesus defeated Hell when Hell had home court advantage. (Lakers vs. Warriors, Heat vs. Bucks - call before heading home and make sure nobody there dinks with my tivo.)

Nobody wants to be a cranky pants! (She purposely avoided any eye contact with me when she made the cranky pants statements.) Interrogate Pookie to see if she squealed on me.

Well, those are my notes just as they were scratched into my arm with my car keys. The words "small head of lettuce" drew blood.

To end the service we all took communion together and sealed the word in our hearts. Of course Satan came to buffet me immediately because I couldn't get the cracker out of the top seal in the little NASA communion package. When everyone else was partaking peacefully I was engaged in hand to hand combat with my seal. I experienced a fleeting temptation to be frustrated and stress out about getting grape juice stain on the carpet. Instead, I had a good laugh, and popped the seal off the cracker in just the nick of time. Just like that lesson on joy.

~Timothy Rawlins