Profound Lesson from a Strange Old Man

Working in a church building daily always has its fair share of interesting people who stop by. More often than not, when the door bell rings at our building, it is a case for someone needing some benevolence. While the church always wants to help everyone, there are times when churches run out of funds. This is the case for us now, as January was a hard hitting month for people needing assistance, and we ran through our budget rather quick. I never know what to do with the people who come seeking assistance after we are out of funds for the month. I always offer them a prayer, or an opportunity to come in and talk. Today, at around 3:30 the doorbell rang. Philip, our minister, was meeting with someone in his office, and our secretary is on vacation, so I got up to answer the door. I was already going through what I was going to say in my mind: "I'm sorry, we're out of funds for the month, but can I pray with you?"

As I opened the door, a feeble man of about 75 years of age stood there. He appeared not to be a benevolence case. I introduced myself and asked if I could help him. He looked me as straight in the eyes as anyone ever has, and said: "I've been a Holy Roller, a Pentecostal, a Baptist and a Catholic. None of them worked for me. So I thought I'd give you guys a try. What can the Church of Christ do for me?"

I stood there baffled, not knowing what to say. I usually am pretty quick on my feet when I am asked a question, but that one took me off guard. What can the Church of Christ offer me?

Now I must let you know, it ended up that this guy was a long time friend of one of our Elders, Mack Whitaker, and had some clothes to drop off for our benevolence Clothing House. He was just pulling my leg, and the guy is a faithful member of a church nearby. But the question still lingers in my head - what can the church of Christ do for me?

I'm going to have to get back to you on it, because I'm not really sure if I have a real answer to give. Any of you guys have any thoughts?

Follow Me

“Simon, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes Master you know I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
He then asked a second time “”Simon do you love me?”
“Yes Master, you know I love you.”
“Shepherd my sheep.”
Simon was upset as Jesus asked a third time “Do you love me?”
Simon answered “Master you know everything, you’ve got to know I love you.”
Jesus said “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Simon would glorify God. And then he commanded “Follow me.”
Turning his head, Simon noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him, he asked Jesus, “Master, what’s going to happen to him?” Jesus said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you?
You – follow me.” John 21:15-22

What would your life look right now if you decided to completely follow Jesus? Would it look a lot different than it does now? Why would your life look different if you decided to completely follow Jesus?

Think on this for a moment: When people hear your name, what do they think of? Is Christ thought of at all when someone hears your name? Think for a moment of all the things that might go through someone’s mind when they hear your name.

Spend some time in prayer over your commitment to God, and examine yourself to see if you are being truly committed. Are you ready to take ownership of the name God has given you and be the Christian He needs you to be? Are you ready to completely follow Him?

Reality is sinking in

Kristen is now almost 21 weeks pregnant. She is starting to fill out the belly of her maternity clothes. It is obvious now that she has something growing inside of her. Its been that way for about 4 weeks now.

But it wasn't all that real until last Thursday at the doctor's office. He clicked the lights off, turned on the ultrasound machine, and voila! There was our daughter. My how she had grown. She went from being the size of a grape to being the size of a banana.

My brother and my sister both had girls first, so I felt in my heart that we would probably have a girl as well. The doctor asked if we had a preference before he started, and we told that we didn't, but we felt like it was going to be a girl. We explained that it kind of ran in my family.

He showed us the head, and the stomach, the kidneys, some feet and hands, ribs, the spine, and finally he asked us again "Are you sure you want to know?" We told him yes, and he told us "Well, it looks like the trend....will continue. Congratulations, you're having a girl!" He then showed us how he knew (I thought we were still looking at the head) and pointed out the little girl parts. I was so excited. I couldn't see Kristen's face, but I knew her face was filled with joy and tears (which later, she confirmed for me).

Now, it all seems so much more real to me. We have a healthy daughter that God is blessing us with. Each day, I see Kristen growing more and more. Last night, I laid my head down on Kristen's belly, and I felt our little girl move just the slightest bit. Kristen now feels her daily. Everytime she feels her move, she beams with delight (I know that in a few weeks she'll grow tired of it, but for now its still very exciting to her).

God is truly blessing our lives. Money, possessions, appearances...all of those are great, but family is so important. Thank you God for blessing my life.

Its a GIRL!!!

Well, after 21 weeks, we went to the doctor today to find out if we were going to be blessed with a boy or a girl. You can see for yourself:



I've had a feeling the whole time it would be a girl. Kristen did as well. Looks like the voters had it right this time. We are so excited. We went straight from the doctor's office to Babies R' Us to register (hint hint).

Pregnancy: Week 20

Here are the latest pics. This is from week 20. The first two pictures in the black shirt are in a "Maternity" shirt. The second two pictures in the greenish shirt are in a non maternity shirt.

Don't forget to vote to your left!

Boy or Girl?

On Thursday of this week, Kristen and I will go to the doctor to find out if we will blessed with a boy or a girl. I have posted a poll for you to vote on the left. Please take a moment and vote for whether you think we'll have a boy or girl (if you're reading this on facebook, go to www.youthministerlane.blogspot.com to place your vote!).

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What are you hiding?

I know most of you have seen this video, but I just can't stop watching it. Watch, and then read some thoughts I have afterwards.



By day, he sells cell phones. But he wants to do more. Much more. He has a dream to do what he feels he was born to do, and that is to sing.

Notice when he says he is going to sing opera, the British judge gives kind of a "Oh boy, this will awful" look. And the first time I saw it, I thought the same thing. "No way can this guy sing opera. This is a classic "American Idol" screw up audition, and I'm about to laugh".

However, when he starts singing, something comes out of him that no one really expected. Something beautiful, something inspiring.

So ask yourself this: What am I hiding inside of me that I've never let anyone know I can do? Better yet, what talent has God placed inside of me that I've never let people see?

Inside of all of us as Christians, God has placed His Holy Spirit in us. Through God, we can do immeasurable things. God takes those who by human standards are failures and turns them into Peters and Pauls and other heroes from the Bible.

Paul Potts, the guy who sang, said he often lacked the confidence to get up and perform. Don't let lack of confidence ever keep you from doing something for God. He was there with Moses, in front of the Egyptian Pharoah. He was there with Esther in front of the King. He was with Jesus as He walked the long walk to the Golgotha. He'll be with you, too.

1948, A Long Time Ago

On January 7th, 1948, a young Joe Widick was born into this world. Now, 60 years later, no one could have foreseen his impact on the world.

For around 30 years, he taught in one of the most under appreciated systems in the schools, the private school system. Not only private education, but Christian Education was where he landed. He spent many a night staying up late working on yearbooks, slideshows, newspapers, grading tests, driving the bus for sports teams, cleaning the building, counseling with families, preparing lessons, devotionals, classes, coaching, directing plays, and many other things.

Every Sunday, he would wake up to go and preach for a local country congregation of around 30 or so members. He would diligently preach the word of God in the morning and in the evening, and do it again Wednesday nights.

He woke up early every day of the school year for many years to drive the school bus for the kids who had no other way to get to school, most of the times having none of the kids ever saying thanks.

He was in charge of running the scoreboard and keeping stats for the home basketball games, except for when he had to take the yearbook and newspaper pictures.

During the summers of all the school years he taught, instead of taking time off like so many teachers are able to do, my father worked loading and unloading trucks, and many other various jobs, just to be able to help out with the family bills. There's no way we would have survived. He also took pictures as a wedding photographer, sports team photographer, and many other small projects to help make ends meet.

After many years of serving as a teacher, his job was changed to the position of Principal. He diligently did all he could to bring more AP classes to the school, to up the ante on the education of the school. While doing this, he dropped a few of his responsiblities, but worked all the more.

Now, he serves as an Elder and as a Minister for the Maple Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon. He continues to influence people every single day. Over the past 60 years, my father has influenced thousands of people, all the while humbly bowing his head and not taking any credit.

Here's to my father, Joe Widick, a great man with a love and passion for serving our God in any way possible. Thanks for all you've done for me, my family, and all the people you've ever helped, which are way to many to ever count. I love you dad.

Time to start it all

This past week, my wife and I spent a wonderful week in Atlanta, GA at the National Conference for Youth Ministers. After seeing many wonderful friends that I haven't seen in a while. We heard many encouraging speakers and are motivated for this upcoming year. We were real excited to have our friends Jason and Jenny McKnight with us most of the week.

Some of the things I learned this past week:

1. I can live without the internet. I went from Wednesday to late this evening without using the internet...and I survived.

2. Is the church doing it right? Are we too focused on the building instead of the actual church? Is this really how Jesus intended his church to be, confined to a building?

3. I need to be a better minister to everyone. To my teenagers, to my parents, the staff, the members, the elders, everyone!

4. Amos 5:21-22; What does it mean? Is there a meaning for us today that we can learn from Amos? Am I courageous enough to be an Amos?

Thoughts?

Second Thoughts about Jesus

Spiritual Resolutions. They should be a priority. Too often times they are not. Check out my good buddy's resolution over at ALREADY AND NOT YET.

I mentioned in my last post that I would report on my spiritual resolutions for the year. These are never simple, and these should not be taken lightheartedly. On Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching at our church in Guntersville. I spoke from the passage of Luke 9:57-62. It reads:

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me. "But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God".

All three of these guys had a reason to postpone their commitment to Jesus. Here are three things I get from this, and three things I resolve for the year:

1. Jesus needs to know that I have what it takes to follow Him.
2. Jesus needs to know that He is my my number one priority.
3. Jesus needs to know that I won't ever look back on my decision to serve Him.

Jesus knew the first guy was reluctant to follow Him. He saw something in this wanna be disciple that said "The life of a Christian may have trails and tribulations, and I can't handle that. As soon as it happens, I'm gonna give up". Jesus needs to know that we won't give up, whether the task at hand is working in a nursery at church, preaching to the shut ins at the nursing home, dealing with benevolent cases, or praying for others.

Jesus knew the second guy wanted to put a bit more emphasis on his family, friends, home...whatever the case may be... above Jesus. I can't imagine making a decision without my family's support, but if my family is going against what Christ wants, I would have to do so. But more importantly, Christ HAS to be a priority in my life. Jesus does not accept second place. Proclaiming the kingdom of God – the good news of Jesus Christ for us today, demands our allegiance above all other commitments in this world. Let me repeat that. Jesus demands our allegiance above all other commitments in this world. Above our family, our jobs, our possessions, our hobbies, our guilty pleasures, and anything else that you can think of!

Finally, no one can plow a straight furrow in the soil by looking back. We can’t whole-heartedly live for Jesus with constant second thoughts and reservations.

Do you ever have buyers remorse? Maybe you’ve bought a new house or a new car, you know, a major purchase, and as soon as you bought the item, you immediately regretted it. Buyer’s remorse can have a powerful impact on you. However, Jesus needs to know that you don’t have second thoughts about your decision to follow Him.

I so desperately want to be a child of God, an obedient loving child of God. I want to live for Christ without reservation, hesitation, vacillation, indecision or fluctuation. I want to live for Jesus with determination, resolution, perseverance and fortitude. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God to guide and a determined fixing of my eyes on Jesus, this is possible.