By Josh Weidmann on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 7:07 PM

There are many things in this world that make me happy. Many things.

 

My Family.

Coffee.

A good friend.

A good meal.

A good meal with a good friend.

Love.

Writing.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Finding a passage in the Bible that hits me square between the eyes.

BBQ parties.

Driving with my windows down.

Music.

Dusk – my favorite time of day.

Colorado.

The times I don’t have to care about time.

Naps.

A good sermon.

Memories.

Laughter.

Laughing at old memories.

 

These are most of the things I can think of that make me happy. Most of them cost nothing. Most of them are all special to me because they include people. All of them are simple pleasures I am blessed to have only because the Lord has allowed me to have them. Oh how sweet is this thing called life that the Lord lets us live.

 

“Oh [my soul], taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8

 

What are a few things the Lord has blessed you with in this world that make you happy?

By Josh Weidmann on Monday, May 21, 2007 3:02 AM

 I’m sure that all jobs – no matter how fun or glamorous – reach a point when they become somewhat taxing or down-right-draining. But at times ministry seems more exhausting and exasperating then any other vocation on the planet. There are times when I can’t help but to dream of doing anything else to earn a paycheck then my current job of working in a church.

That may be how I feel at times, but I know that I’m one of the most privileged people in the world because I am able to do ministry as a full time vocation. Certainly all followers of Christ should be doing ministry no matter if God has placed them in an office or at a drive-thru; but personally I have the honor of getting paid to just continually serve God and His people. Please don’t get me wrong, there is nothing I would rather do with my life. I know I love it, even when the butter flies are gone.

But I must admit there are some days where it feels like the bottom of my cup has a million holes that are pounded in it. As I try to pour my life out the top, I often feel like I’ve sprung a leak out the bottom. The worst days of my life (or, in my ministry) are the days when I try to pour my everything into a person, sermon or event and I simply have nothing left to pour.

I’m learning that if I I’m going to keep watch over souls (Hebrews 13:17) I must first tend to my own soul. There must be certain actions I take and mistakes I avoid to ensure that I am filled to the brim and my ministry is simply the run off of my vibrant relationship with God.

This is not easy.

There is no one beside myself that can make me take the time to really work on my relationship with the Lord. I am the one that has to make it priority over everything else in my life.

Last week I was reading an article in a magazine by an ex-pastor who said, “Often, pastors are much more zealous for God’s work then they are for God himself.” He’s right. Many ministers have made their ministry their mistress as they go off dedicating themselves to this work at the sacrifice of their families, their friends, their health, and even their own souls.

Doing ministry may be hard, but I know from experience, that it is twice as hard when you are empty. If I’m going to impact people’s lives with God’s truth in the way I desire to, I must do whatever it takes to quench the thirst of my own soul first. Whatever it takes.

Last night my cup was dry. So I cut myself off from the world – ministry included – and I acted as if my soul was in the ER. I hooked myself up to the I.V. of God’s word and spent time bringing back the hydration my life needed to be able to function again. It wasn’t easy. I could’ve kept trying to push through the emptiness on my own – but that would have made today painful instead of joyful.

By Josh Weidmann on Friday, May 18, 2007 9:57 PM

I want to be the kind of man I would want my wife to marry.

When I contemplate that it’s hard for me to think that I will ever been that man. To give the one woman I will care about the most in this life a mate less than she deserves is a haunting thought. What if I’m not quality enough? What if I’ve still got major areas of apathy or sin that make me far less then the man I know I could be – the man I know she deserves?

One day after Tim and I had dinner, we sat down on my couch and started to talk about the future we dream of. We spoke of the long road it has been preparing for the day when we will meet that special someone and live on in to forever with her.

Both Tim and I are kind of sappy when it comes to love. We both can’t wait for the day we will be doting on the woman of our dreams. But we are also serious about our love. I’ve come to grasp that the call of a man is simply to tend to his wife’s soul for the rest of his life one he is wed to her. Do you understanding the wonderful yet enormous task of that?

Anyway, after we talked about what we are looking for in a wife, we started to dream about what we want our wife to be looking for. We talk about the kind of men we could and should become before we pursue the girl of our future.

I remember Tim saying, “I’m not ever going to fully be the man I would want my wife to marry, but I’m going to strive to get as close to that as I can.” He’s right – we’ll always be developing, growing and changing, for the better I hope. But what a great goal to set; we must desire to be what we would want our spouse to have. With God’s strength for His glory, I must keep striving to be that better man.

My fear is that too many times we are worried about what we want or what we think our future mate should be like. Maybe our perspective needs to change; maybe it is time we start thinking about what they want and what would be best for them.

Just a thought…

By Josh Weidmann on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:02 PM

The first time I met Jerry Falwell, he poked me in the stomach with his finger.

I was speaking at the Liberty University, where he was the president, and we were back stage conversing over the great things God was doing there. I told him I had attended Liberty University through their distance learning classes for the first few years; this was at least a common bond of some sort. But when I told him who my Dad was, I think he got so excited that he whipped out his pointing finger and could do nothing but poke me in the belly as if I was the Pillsbury doughboy. At that point I couldn’t help but the “hoo hoo” laughing sound the doughboy makes after being poked. We both chucked and trying to act as if the belly-poke never happened.

Although that moments was awkward, it was a bonding experience for me and Falwell. He respected my Dad who he had ministered with just prior to that on his TV show and at his church. I also knew my Dad (and even my grandpa who is now in Heaven) respected Jerry Falwell greatly, so I did too.

Jerry Falwell was good man who did great things for God’s Kingdom. Yes, he may have been in the spotlight of the media once or twice for things that would’ve been better left unsaid, but still, he loved the Lord and lived for Him.

Farwell, Dr. Falwell. I will look forward to meeting you again someday and repeating to you the words you’ve most likely already heard from our Savior – “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

By Josh Weidmann on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 7:00 PM

Was I not being honest enough?

I’m currently working on a book about the importance of being “Honest to God.”

In the editors remarks he told me that he wasn’t sure I was really being honest. He thought that I was still keeping a few layers on in order to protect myself.

I’m afraid he’s right.

It is not easy to let other see your true colors. What if they critique them? What if they are frightened by them? What if they feel betrayed because you didn’t tell them that is how you really felt in the first place?

I think we all have layers and rarely do we let them all down. But at the same time, I’m note sure if the world would be a better place if we were bare-to-the-bones honest with each other. Are we mature (not physically, but spiritually and emotionally) to handle people's true feelings?

Personal honesty (especially with God) is transforming. Personal honesty (especially with God) is absolutely terrifying.

Please pray for me as a scream publicly for honesty and privately try to grasp it for myself.