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By Josh Weidmann on
Thursday, March 23, 2006 8:14 AM
In an email on March 15th, 2006, Craig Steiner, Pastor of High School Ministries at Harvest Bible Chapel Wrote:
Dear High School Students and Parents,
It is my privilege to share with you that Josh Weidmann will soon join our high school ministry staff at Harvest Bible Chapel.
Josh was our speaker at our high school winter retreats at Camp Harvest in February. God used him powerfully in the lives our students through his clear proclamation of God’s Word in a fun, warm, and engaging way. He definitely made a connection with our students and our students with him.
 In January, over 600 parents heard Josh speak at Harvest at our special “If You Only Knew… 8 Things Teens Want to Tell their Parents (But Don’t)” parent seminar. This seminar was based on the book by the same title. In writing the book, Josh teamed with his dad, Jim, who has served on staff with Focus on the Family for many years and has written numerous parenting books.
Jim and Josh Weidmann will be the featured speakers our next “Men at War” on Friday, March 24. The topic is biblical fathering. Tickets are still available. Please go to www.harvestbible.org for more information or to register now. All dads are encouraged to come!
Josh will join our staff in late-June as Director of High School Ministry. Josh will assume the role of our primary large group teacher on both our Rolling Meadows and Elgin Campuses. In addition, he will be investing in the lives of our students through home groups, trips, special events, etc. Josh will serve under my direction and in cooperation with the other pastors in our high school ministry.
Josh is a popular and gifted youth communicator. He speaks to thousands of teens each year – and often to thousands at a time – as a feature speaker at many stadium events for teens and camps across the country. In the past few weeks, Josh was heard nationally on multiple FamilyLife Today radio programs with Dennis Rainey. Josh is choosing to limit his speaking calendar so that he can invest here at Harvest.
In addition to his speaking and writing, Josh can be heard locally on the “Honest to God” radio program on WMBI-90.1 on Thursdays and Saturdays. To access and listen to past programs or subscribe to free weekly podcasts, go to www.honesttogodradio.com.
To find out much more about Josh Weidmann, go to www.joshweidmann.com.
I have personally known Josh for several years. He is humble, a man of absolute integrity, fun, wise, approachable, mature, compassionate, and devoted to the ministry of the gospel. This spring he will finish his studies at Moody Bible Institute as a Bible major and is thrilled at the opportunity to join our staff at Harvest. Obviously, I’m excited about what this addition means to our Harvest students and families!
Harvest has been Josh’s Chicago church home for the past three years when he is not ministering on weekends. If you see him around worship services at Harvest, please welcome him!
To God be the Glory!
J. Craig Steiner
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By Josh Weidmann on
Saturday, March 11, 2006 12:27 AM
In the March 6th, 2006 release of NEWSWEEK, an article on page seven reads, “Praise the Lord and Pass the ammunition: Christians are finally getting a high-caliber shoot-‘em-up videogame of their own.” The article goes on to explain that later this year a new videogame called Left Behind: Eternal Forces will be released. It is a high-action game adapted from Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ book in the Left Behind series. It will include “a level of violence reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto” as the characters of the book make their way through the Manhattan streets looking for “converts, training them into a work force to feed, shelter and join a paramilitary resistance against the growing forces of the Antichrist.”
Is this new Left Behind Games Company taking something to a ‘gaming’ level that is better left as revered reality of the Bible? Should the end times really be made into a gory game? No way! The end times are something that should be taken very seriously and not played around with. Troy Lyndon, the company's CEO, may call me ‘Christian right [winged]” by saying this, but I’m not just tying myself in a conservative knot – I’m trying to view this biblically. Not to get all cliché, but really - would Jesus play this game? Does this game really glorify God in the end?
I don’t think the effects of this game are going to help youth have a better understanding of the New Testament's apocalyptic literature. How hard will it be for them to take the book of Revelation seriously if it is reduced to some after-school video game? Lyndon is sure that “mega churches are very likely to embrace this game;” but I challenge you Christian, stand against it. Let’s keep the Bible a tool for transformation – not entertainment!
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By Josh Weidmann on
Monday, March 06, 2006 3:28 PM
I was working on a recording this week for an Honest to God Radio episode about "Humility." (It will air next month.) As I was working on it, I was struck by a statement in CJ Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness. He states:
"Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him."
In the first introductory chapters, Mahaney explains pride as our enemy. If we are to "Imitate God" (Ephesians 5:1), then we must strive for Christ-like humility - serving others with our lives. But imitating God is different than trying to take the "status and position of God." Imitating God is striving to obey His command to "Be Holy, because I am Holy" (1 Peter 1:16). The opposite happens when we are prideful and declare with our attitudes, "hey, look at me! I'm self sufficient and talented all on my own... give ME the credit for ME." Can you see how wrong this is? God is our Creator, and He deserves the credit for us; we are His creation.
I know that pride is the root of all sin. Think about that first sin in the Garden of Eden - the very fall of all mankind happened because Adam and Eve "aspire[d] to the status and position of God and refuse[d] to acknowledge their dependence upon Him." That prideful sin nature is woven in the very fabric of who I am. That is why I must have Christ, so that He can excavate and recreate my prideful and selfish heart.
I am sure that Satan doesn't have an alarm clock.
He knows he doesn't have to get up in the morning and come hunt me down to make me fall. He is well aware of the fact that I will find sin just fine on my own. My soul is soaked in selfishness and pride, but through the freeing blood of Christ, by faith, I can tap into the bondage-breaking power of the Holy Spirit and overcome temptation and pride.
I love Hebrews 12:1-3: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Take heart. Keep your gaze fixed in Christ!
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By Josh Weidmann on
Wednesday, March 01, 2006 4:19 PM
I can't speak about the rest of her album, but there is no doubt Natasha Bedingfield's song "Unwritten" (the title track of the album) is a home run! Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, as it has been in the top ten downloaded songs on iTunes for over a week.
For the most part, the song has a great sound, and though the lyrics are repetitive, they are incredibly inspiring. She speaks of her life as "unwritten," rousing the listener to live life to the fullest. The song ends with a repeated verse and phrase:
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten...
The rest is still unwritten...
The rest is still unwritten...
While her song may be inspiring, I think there is much more to this life for a follower of Christ than just empty pages of potential. Her song starts with the statement, “the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned.” This is not true if we have put our faith in Christ.
Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Bible says that Christ is my “author.” I started thinking a lot about that today, and I recognize there are some amazing things that happen when I give the pen of my life to God and allow Him to author my life-story.
First of all, I realized I can either choose to be the author and put on its pages what I want, or I can hand the pen over to God and have him write the daily words of my life. Everyday, I need to make sure I am leaving the pen in God’s hand and not trying to do life without His input.
The second thing I realized is that, because I gave my life to Christ, there is a great ending to my story. You see, I deserved a bad one. Because of my sin, I should be separated from God and all His goodness forever. But when I received salvation in Jesus, my bad ending was erased, and in the back of my life-story God wrote, “And you will live happily ever after with Me.” How great is that?!
My third realization was this: my pages are tainted with the sin I have already committed and will commit in the future, but all of those things can be eternally erased with God as my life-story author. I could try as hard as possible to cover my mistakes up, but no matter how hard I try there will always be eraser marks. But when God writes my story, the only eraser marks are found on the hands and feet of Jesus.
Why wouldn’t I let him write my story? He is my Creator. He knows me better than I know myself.
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