4% -- HOLY CRAP

Today I was online. I came across Battle Cry's site and remembered all the excitement I had for going in March. I still may go, but I was going to take the youth group. I was watching some videos about how in only a few years there will only be 4% of people who call themselves Christians when the next generation gets here. That's staggering. It reminded me of a commercial that I saw once about drugs. In this commercial there was a girl in a pond and she couldn't swim. Her friend stood quietly on the dock, merely feet from her friend, watching her drown. The commercial ends with, the statement, "you would do something wouldn't you?"

I write this because it seems to me that many Christians would have to answer that question with a loud "NO." The odds of reaching a person for Christ after they turn 20 is 10 to 1. That scares the crap out of me. This is one of the reasons why I'm a Student Pastor. I want to reach the students with Christ no matter what it takes. Why doesn't every Christian have this point of view? It's a command of God isn't it? How did we go from a society where Christian morals are taught and most everyone was a Christian, to a place where only 4% do?

We as Christians have DROPPED THE BALL. Do you get it? 4% scares the crap out of me. Does it scare you? Battle Cry is a event where students, parents, and all Christians are called to stand up for our generation. They're called to defy what culture has said to us; that we can't be Christians. If you don't believe me just to go YouTube. Type in any Christian video and look at all the hate comments they've received. Go out to the mall and ask someone if you can pray for them or tell them about Christ and see if they don't curse you and spit at you.

How did we come to the point where 4% will be responsible for the spiritual direction of a generation? All I know is that we're called to stand up. Let's do it! God Rocks! Jtw

Prayer over Interview

Tonight I have a sort of interview with a man named Tim Jernigan. He's the pastor at a church called Northstar Fellowship (www.northstarfellowship.com). It seems like a very cool church that's reaching people. I'm very excited about what this could be. God's awesome and a lot of us have been praying for something like this for some time.

Pray over tonight. Pray that I don't let my excitement blur what God is telling me. Pray that God will give me a very clear answer. Tim seems like a great guy and seems like God is definitely with him. I want what God wants.

I appreciate your prayers, and Thank you God for the chance to be your Servant. Pray with me as I pray please...

Lord, Thank You for this opportunity. Thank you for all you've given me and for helping me to be patient as you send me what you have for me. Lord, tonight might be it, and might not. Either way God praise You. God tonight if this is the place you want me to serve you in, then God let me know. I want to serve you in your place. God, bless this ministry either way, Tim wants to reach people for you. Help him! Thank you again and Praise you Lord. In Jesus name..AMEN. JTW

Feminist and Christians

Today I was watching a TV show that made me laugh a little. On this show, this guy had a company being boycotted by a feminist group. So this guy made the decision to take the leading woman out to dinner. She spent the meal with the guy telling him how his company just uses women and causes a poor outlook on women. The funny thing came at the end of their meal. When the check came, the guy began to only pay for his part. The woman watched and was perplexed. She asked, why aren't you paying for all of it. She went on to say that "I thought we were on a date and I assumed you'd pay for it." The guy then turned to this woman and said the greatest statement I've heard in while. He said "Welcome to equality, this is what you wanted."

This woman was a feminist because she thought that women are being treated like second class citizens. The problem is that she wanted all the respect, money, and what she feels is rights that men are not giving men, but she didn't look at it from all sides. She didn't want to give stuff up like men paying for dates, or basically the gentlemen mentality.

So, how does this apply to Christians. A lot of Christians are just like this. They want to be Christians because they think they'll get something out of it; a.k.a. get out o hell free card. Again the problem with Christians is the same problem as the with the feminist. They don't look at it from all sides. Being a Christian is being a follower of Christ. This means doing what the Bible says to do, and not just doing what parts you want or do not want to do. Why do Christians and other people's ethics seem to waiver when they are put into a situation where their personal comfort is compromised.

So, what can we learn from this feminist that can be applied to our spiritual lives? I've learned that if we believe and especially if we label ourselves something that we shouldn't do anything to compromise that. When did situation ethics apply to Jesus and His calling on our lives? It doesn't! No matter the situation, no matter the comfort ability, no matter the issue, if you're a Christian act like it.

Don't we have enough hypocrites in our society? I don't want to spend one more second making my Savior look bad. If you're a feminist, then act like on no matter what. If you're a Christian, then act like one no matter what. God Rocks, Jtw

Wow this weekend

This weekend I was privileged enough to go to Virginia for homecoming at the awesome college that I recently graduated from. I had a plan of going to the football game and some other homecoming festivities, but as I've realized, my plans change a lot. I got there and spent some time with a lot of students. These were students I'd worked with in Va before moving to NC. So I spent the weekend with students, and friends. It was extremely awesome! It did make me realize a few things.

It made me realize that first that God loves me. I realized this because with all the crap that's been going on, to have lots of people come and want to love on you...it was incredible. Around NC i have my family. Other than that, not a lot of people just want to be around us. This is definitely different in Va. The begging people for us to come back lets us know that we're loved unconditionally.

Next it made me realize that God's given me exactly what I need. For years now my wife and I have been working with students. This weekend has made me realize that God's given me what I need to reach students. I didn't do anything but be myself and share what Christ did with the students in Va. It's funny how being real can effect so many people. All the latest things I read that people have realized that works is things we've been doing for years. Being real...it's an opening for God's words to pour out.

Lastly, I have recently been told that a few of the things that I wanted to do weren't needed in youth ministry. A lot of them were said to be wrong because they liked unity of the family and basically their own preferences. This weekend taught me they are wrong. I've seen my ideas in practice and a wonderful student that I got to spend the weekend with validated my ideas. We weren't talking about some of these things. She brought some of these things up in light of the reasons i was fired from my last church. She told me how these things work, and it's what people her age need. She completely validated my ideas and assumptions on the ministry. I thank God for her and His words to me through her.

This weekend was awesome. This was the weekend we were to take the last church's youth ministry up for Scaremare. It could have changed their lives. We were going to take them to the church we also served at before them. They could have seen some of my ideas in practice and a little of my vision. This didn't happen. It's sad when a simple preference of a pastor becomes a crusade to get his way. I pray that God reaches his heart.

If you were involved in this weekend and you read this, then I thank you for being God's love to me and Shannon. This weekend was great and just want I needed from God. Thank You!

Why do churches do revivals?

Why do churches do revivals? This is a question that came to mind today when a preacher mentioned it at a church I was visiting today. He said that the Lord's supper is a good introduction to a revival. I was kinda confused by this statement. He said some other stuff that was confusing too, but I'll get to those later in another blog.

Ok back to the revival thing. I've grew up in church since I was very young. I've been in many different kind of churches, but most of them have a revival in common. A revival for those that don't know is this. There is a few days (up to a week) where a service is done everyday. Usually a pastor from somewhere else comes in, preaches a whole series, and there is more time given for each day (usually no limit). A revival is used to create a fire under people's butts. That is it's intention, to put people on fire for God. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't

So the question is "why do churches do revivals?" Honestly I have no idea why churches do this. It's been my experience that mostly older people go to these and most people don't make it every night of this extended event. I once had a professor named Dr. Ergun Caner. He knows more about church history than I could ever learn. Once he talked to our class about revivals. He said that "no substantial revival has ever occurred that was not started amongst the students of that area." Holy Crap!! That means that revivals that change lives and history start with the passionate students. So why do churches use programs like a revival that targets the older people? Do they really think that if they schedule in a revival that God will jump on board and say yeah I'll show up on that day or during that week because you say so? That's stupid!

Churches use revivals to try and create passion amongst people who don't have it. As my wonderful wife put it, "they try to create that mountain top Camp experience, because they won't go to camp." Wouldn't it just be easier to go to camp? Sounds to easy. Makes you wonder why the pastor doesn't try to create or at least want to create this type of experience all year long!

Ok so what's the point? Well in a purpose driven society, what's the purpose of the revival? I believe that everything we do in ministry should have a point and should meet our goals in one form or another. This doesn't really fit in. If we use the idea behind the simple church we'd have to cut this out. If we use the purpose driven idea we'd cut this out. So why is it that so many churches refuse to cut this out. Is it because it works? Is it because they know a revival will do what they haven't been able to do during the year? No! They do this because they always have. That disgusts me.

Ok, so I probably won't make churches even think about dropping this most scared cow. So my next question is...why do we target the older people? Most pastors have been to seminary right? This means they've taken church history and have learned about all the great revivals. Surely they've learned they've all started with the students who have the passion and the guts to do it. Then why do they overlook this? Why do they just patronize students instead of using them? Do a revival that reaches out to this group. Get a service where the students come, bring people, and are real. Authenticity is key with students and there's a lot of churches out there that are more fake than most of the girls that Hugh Hefner hang out with.

Also, this shouldn't be a once a year thing. This should be a weekly thing. Sure it's going to take a lot more work. It's going to take a person who cares more about God than making people happy. It's going to take a daily revival in the people's lives to whom are going to create an environment that creates a revival in everyone else at least once a week.

Revival in most churches today isn't needed. It's directed at the wrong audience and used for the wrong reasons. Why can't people just rely on God and become real enough to be a revival daily? It's almost like a contest to whom can can get best speaker. Do they really think God's loving this tradition? The question is, how long will he allow this slap in the face from fake people?

Praise God for real people who want to have a daily revival with God at the center. It'll start with students. It always has started with students. Some pastor's have forgotten. God hasn't ever forgotten. Praise my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! God Rocks -- Jtw

When did God become an Excuse?

So, When did God become an excuse for doing what you want? Anyone who's worked in ministry or pays attention to news about people and religion know what I mean by this statement. It seems a lot in the past few years that people in religious leadership like to use God as an excuse to do whatever they want. They say things like "We're going to do this b/c we prayed about it," or something like " This s what God wants." These statements have been used to rationalize some of the most horrible things in history. I saw a news article recently talking about a so called "pastor" who thought it was ok for a father to marry his adolescent daughter because it was part of their religion. Holy Crap, what's up with that? How can God be used to say this is ok? Because God's become the excuse. Recently I was fired from a Job where I was excelling at that job. I was fired b/c they "prayed" about it first.

How can we stop this flagrant misuse of a Holy God? It's called accountability. This kind of thing occurs in places where we give one person way to much authority. When did God ever put a single person up on a pedestal? He didn't! The only person He ever gave major authority was Himself in human form, known as Jesus Christ. If the leadership was accountable to people who walk with God daily, then less little problems like this will arise. Where people stop, think, and talk, ideas outside that of God's word start to become evident.

PLEASE for the love of God, stop using God as an excuse. Why do we feel the need to say that God has said something that you know He didn't? I think it's because no one can argue. The people that say these things know that God isn't going to just come down and confront you in public over the stupid thing you just said that He said. It's only an amount of time before you'll have to answer for what you've said. In this life or the next you'll answer for it.

Start actually praying, looking for God's leading, and do that. Regardless of what God's leading is, do that! You've got to be ready to do thing you don't want to if you're going to do God's will. It's not always the easy thing, but it's always the right thing. The right thing also isn't always what we want. Remember that the next time you're going to want to do something just because it's convenient or want to get rid of someone because you're jealous. Remember that it may not be what God wants just because you want it.

What God wants is perfect. Why do we think that just because we want it that God will in turn want it as well? How selfish our sin must be.

Now we must wait for change...God Rocks!! Jtw

Post-Emergent Church Movement

Recently I've spending a lot of time thinking about the church. I've been to community churches, independent, southern baptist, Pentecostal, and especially dead ones. They all have their issues, whether it's leadership or doctrine, they all do have major issues.

Today I was reading online about this movement called the Post-Emergent Church Movement. Here read for yourself: http://crosebrough.typepad.com/postemergent/about_postemergent/index.html

I've spent a lot of time recently in churches that are not emergent, and I'd say that I like emergent much better. The worship is real and they definitely show God's love. The problem is that they don't go deep. They have very surface level theology, and honestly I hate that. This is where the Post-Emergent comes in.

The Post-Emergent is a movement where you take the authenticity of the people in the emergent church and returns to the authority of the Bible and where it stands. Many churches, especially that reject the emergent, do things because they've always done them. The problem with this is they are fake. People do stuff they don't know about and no one is real. This is evident because they live out of boxes. When they're at work they act one way, when at church another way, and even at Wal-mart they act a whole different way. When did Jesus call us to be Christians only at church? He didn't and I hope that churches that are this fake will wake up before they completely die and leave the area they are in without a light.

A few things that i hope die with this Post-Emergent Church Movement is the emergent church's way of arguing over things that really have no answer, and the decision that tolerance is the best way to reach people.
Why argue? I don't understand why argue about something until you come to the point where neither of you want to talk to each other anymore. Why can't we agree to disagree and agree that we both have valid points that we both don't agree with.
What's up with Tolerance? Ok, I agree that we should listen to other people's opinions, I'm saying that when it comes to what Christ said we shouldn't be tolerant. Jesus was very hard on sin, not the sinner. I can be very honest with someone about their sin, and still show them love. Let's return to that sort of stuff.

I can definitely see the pros and cons of this movement. Only time will tell if this movement will catch on. I believe that it will. I believe it will because a few words are key: Authenticity, Transparency, Love, Honesty, Trust, and most importantly Christ. These are things that define a person's life, a Community's atmosphere, a generation's impact, so why shouldn't they be things that signify a church?

It's gonna be awesome if this becomes a movement that produces churches that reflect these 6 things evenly. And, above that, that the people of these churches create in their own lives these 6 things for everyone to see. No boxes just open space.

God Rocks,
Josh

Now where do we go?

The question that I sit here thinking now is where do we go? Where exactly do I go from here. Since this whole situation of ... stuff started I've asked God many times "why aren't you doing anything", and "what's next." Since I first posted the entry to get the truth out, I've had people I didn't even know cared actually send me message after message about how they've seen God in me and it was the churches loss to lose someone like me. For those of you who have been sending me these message I thank you and want you to know that you've helped me a lot. It has been an honor serving you.

Something that I have been thinking about a lot lately is this. I think God brought me back here to learn from this situation, but most of all for Matt and Bailey. That friendship and counsel has greatly affected me and I thank God for all the time I had with them.

So now where do we go? Well God's calling has never changed and what God wants me to do has never changed. I must forgive those that have hurt me, and move on. This might sound rather unsympathetic, but it's not my call. I will continue to minister the people of WYBC and especially the students who have found my love. My heart for them hasn't changed just because I'm not allowed to minister to them at the church.

I have a call from God and a vision from God. I've been taught on how to be a student pastor and that plays into my vision. So now all I have to do is find the church that God wants me to be at. I'll be much more cautious about people's answers this time, but doesn't mean I don't keep up the ministry. Maybe this time I'll put my ambitions on paper so there isn't any questions on what I intend to do with God's generation of students.

Keep praying for me...I need all the help I can get
God Rocks,
Josh

Ministry...in a church?

In most churches that I've been, a ministry is kind of like an accessory. They seem to work like this. There's 2 kinds of churches: a wave church and a tree church.

I call them the wave Church and here's how a wave works. Waves start out small and builds as things get added (like ministries). The wave gets bigger and bigger, and the whole time the whole wave is working towards a goal. This goal is written and some that's not written. The written ones often apply to reaching their community or being well known in their area for something. The unwritten goals are things like, to have this number of people by the end of the year, and even things like making the people who brings in the money happy. So there are good things about this wave church. They don't usually have unnecessary ministries and are very specific on who they want to reach. The problem is the wave church is all going one direction. True they stay on direction, but they also are afraid to stretch out. They are very good at reaching one person, but miss everyone else. They also can't use anything that they haven't done before. In other words, it's not with the direction of the church.

The 2nd church is one I've called the tree Church. Here's how a tree church works. A tree grows by giving it substance, growing out branches, and constant pruning. In a tree church the tree grows. The trunk is the tree, it's the people. In a tree, the trunk doesn't change, but the branches go out from it. The branches are ministries, ways to meet peoples needs, and ways to reach people. This is one major way that a tree and a wave are different. Where a wave all works in one way, a tree works in multiple ways. The tree spreads out, covers a lot of different things, but still works for the same purpose. They all work toward the sun, and they also work to nourish whole tree. They reach many people, but it may look to some people like all the branches are not working toward the same purpose. It's up to those people in those branches to educate those on the outside. The tree church tries things new, and doesn't hold a whole lot of honor for tradition. A thing that most people don't understand about the tree is that pruning is necessary. If things don't work they get cut back. Even if an event or some program seems popular, but doesn't meet the purposes it's cut. Everything has a purpose.

There are 2 types of churches: wave vs tree. I've been in both kinds of churches. The wave works well for most older people, but ignores relevancy. They say "we do it this way because we've always done it that way." The tree church is for 30 somethings or younger. This group has the stigma of changing just for the point of change. They are very relevant, but also ignores some of the harder things from Christ in order to keep a relationship.

Neither are perfect, but both are used today...now it's up to you to decide which you should serve in. Jtw

What if...?

What if people loved God as much as they love their significant other? Recently I've been looking at lot of people's myspaces. I've been overwhelmed with the number of people's names or motto's or whatever that say something about their girlfriend or boyfriend. They're so open about how much they love these people but if you see them ask them they may have only been with that person for a very short time. I usually leave amazed with these people with how much they will talk about those people, and how important they are to their lives. Normally this would be OK, except when you talk to them about God. They'll go on about how God's first in their lives, but they're lying. They're lying because God can't be first and anything else be first.
So the original question begins again: What what if people loved God as much as they do their significant others? Would we link up myspace and see people's names talking about God? Would we go to their sites and it be a monument to the living God? Would we have churches, communities, countries, and governments that see through the lens of Christ?
The problem is that this will never happen. Most people will never be so devoted to Christ that God's will is more important than anything that happens around them. Jesus said that people will hate us because they hated Him first. Makes you wonder why they don't hate us. Maybe it's because we don't love God enough for others to know it. But...what if...? Jtw

What is a Church?

I've recently been plagued with the thought "what is a church?" I know from the Bible that God's people are in fact the church. This is awesome and I wish more people knew that. As I sit here reading through the book of Acts I see how the early church and it's people did things. I see how they showed people love, this is how people knew they were believers. I see how they worshipped God without regard for what people thought of them, an element lost in most churches I've been to. I also see people who are servants, who see each of the spiritual gifts as equal and each person having their own part in the church community. This leaves me disillusioned. The churches that I've been in recently have a whole different philosophy. It seems as if they only care for those that care for them, they never truly worship because of their neighbor, and the pastor is put up so high on a pedestal that his word is god to those around him. How did we take the wonderful, loving, caring thing that God created called church and make it into this inwardly focused deity. I pray that God sends me a church where they people work as a team to worship God regardless of where they are, a place where the pastor is just a servant using his gifts to God's glory, and a place that is so outwardly and upwardly focused that everyone will know them by their love. That's what God called us to! How have we come so far? What is a church? I pray each day to learn what that is. Jtw

Matt and Baley Hinson

Matt and Baley Hinson were two of my best friends. I've known Baley a few years and knew Matt for over 20 years. On July 27th they died along with their unborn little boy. To know them was to love them. They were truly people of God, and one of the best examples of a Christian I could ever hope to have had. This has been one of the hardest times in my life. It's hard to go from talking to someone every week to never gonna see them again on this side of glory. My mind keeps going back to one statement in my head "if it were only Thursday morning again." I realize that this statement is extremely selfish. When Paul saw a glimpse of Heaven God had to send him a demon to bring him back to earth and want to return. How could I ever want that for my friends. I want them back, but I know I'll see them again. I guess it's easier to think of them as just moved to a better place than it is to think of them as permanently gone. Knowing Matt for so long and knowing how alike we are, I think I know what he would like. He would want us to move on, tell people about Christ, and love on students with everything we can hope to have. Well it's be awesome to know these wonderful people. I can't wait until the day I see Matt and Baley again, but what will be better is on that day Jesus will run to me, hug me, and say well done. Matt and Baley have finished well and I hope I do as well. I hope to be the man of God that I saw in Matt. Thank You Jesus for this wonderful example of what you want from me. Praise Jesus. God Rocks, Jtw

Christian Lingo

Why do some people use Christian Lingo? I don't understand it, it's not like use say computer lingo with someone who's computer illiterate. So again, why do we use computer lingo with either non-Christians or just regular followers of Jesus. Recently I've been asking a lot of questions. I believe that people should not just know what they believe but why. The answer I get to a lot of these questions is the church answer with church lingo. The problem comes when I ask what that lingo means...you guessed it they don't know. So how can you possibly know what you are talking about when you use words that you don't understand? Well you can't and I think that you shouldn't. So the problem becomes how do we change this alarming trend? It also seems to me that this alarming trend also leads to heavy legalism issues. I'm not sure why except that it's easier to seem strong by being controlling than to let others see your flaws and let others do the same as you see a perfect God. Now what? I try my best to not seem like I'm smarter than others, because I'm probably not, or that I'm more holy than anyone, because I'm just a sinner trying to return to my savior. Because of this I surround myself with people that do neither of these things. So in my maybe frivolous attempt to help this I'm going to push. I'm going to stop caring what people think and more on what God thinks. When I hear Christian Lingo crap with no real backing I'm gonna call people on it. I've already made one person mad because I called them on their lies and I'm not here to just make friends but instead to lead people to Christ and help them grow.For this reason I plan to call people on what they say and use the word 'why' a whole lot. So as I sign off I begin the process of toughening my skin and getting ready for the fight that may come. I ask for your prayers as I pray for the answers that I desperately need. God help me to know what to say, when to say it, and when to push. Thank you Jesus for the chance to serve you. God Rocks, Jtw

What is a Servant?

I started thinking about this question yesterday because I was confronted with a person that says they are by title. I was at a restaurant the yesterday after picking up my wife for lunch. We spent the time there watching our waitress sit with some guy, smoke, and talk. She did come over and ask us if we needed anything a few times. Like most people, when you get something on your plate you aren't going to eat, I put some lettuce from my overflowing salad on a few napkins. Afterward, I went to pay. She sat quietly, watched as the tip was placed on the paper, and then decided she would speak up. She proceeded to scold me over putting food on the table and how rude it was to her. I thought it was funny that she didn't mention anything until after the tip was given. Obviously she hadn't seen the napkins I placed down before putting some lettuce down because she wasn't around, but proceeded to tell me how wrong it was regardless.

This brings me back to my original question: What is a servant? This lady was by title a servant. Well if this was true shouldn't she act like a servant. This is what the dictionary says:

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
noun: a person who serves others: as a : an individual who performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer b : a person in the employ and subject to the direction or control of an individual or company

So a servant is someone who is in direct control by someone else. This means this lady is a servant to whom: The customer. She on the other hand doesn't really act like a servant because of the view she has of authority. I bring this up because being a servant applies to everyone that calls themselves a follower of Christ.

Christ calls us to be servants, so we've learned what a servant is. We are under direct control of Christ if we are to call ourselves followers of Christ and a servant. Christ gave us the example of a servant when he washed the Disciple's feet. Before this Jesus said...

John 12:26 "Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me."

Anyone who wants to be a disciple must be a servant and must be where Jesus is. So to go back to my story. i can't say whether this lady was a follower of Christ or not, but her example didn't show me this. If she is a disciple like myself, then I pray she never tells anyone. It's hard enough being a Christian without hypocrites being the first thing people think of when you try to tell them about Christ.

So where does this leave us? A servant of Jesus is a disciple and also is under direct control of Jesus. He's given us commands, directions for living, and His word to answer any other question. As far as I'm concerned Jesus gave us the example of servant hood and that example was the Love of others. When Christians were being hunted by Rome it was asked how the Christians would be found. The response was that you will know them by their love. This is the response I give now when I look for a servant. I will know them by their love.
God Rocks, Jtw

Big God....forgot that!

Do you ever forget how big God really is? I know I do! Here's the issue I have and have others recently talk to me about for themselves. We ask God for something, then we don't get what seems to be an answer. Wierd huh, it seems like if we don't get the answer we want then God's not answering us. The real problem is that no matter what the answer or when the answer comes, that doesn't change who God is. We forget that and we forget exactly how big our God really is. How is it that a God big enough to create the universe, love us enough to send His Son to die for us, and wants to personally know each and every person isn't big enough to care about our problems. Crazy huh? We forget that no matter the size of our problems, God is always bigger. Why then do we worry about things? We especially worry about things that we have no control over and that we can't hope to change. Seems to me that if we truly believed that God is so powerful that we'd just trust Him and not worry. It's much easier said than done. How do we trust God without fear? I guess it comes down to our willingness to grow close to Jesus. It's hard not to trust in God when you're so close to Him that He's all you see. How do we do this then? Well all the spiritual disciplines are a good place to start, but it comes down to our faith and willingness to be a Christ follower. That's the greatest of journeys and worth the most reward. Thank you God for being so Big and Lord give us the chance to be your servant today. Thank you God. AMEN---Jtw

Graduated

Well I'm officially a College Graduate from a University. I'm a alumni of largest distinctly Christian University in the world. It's more than awesome. Graduation was definitely about Jerry Falwell, but also about the future. The message given to us today is about finishing well and never ever quitting. For a short time now my motto has been "whatever it takes." I truly want to finish well, and that's gonna take everything I have. I will never ever quit doing whatever it takes to fulfill the purpose that God has put me here to do. Jerry finished his race very well, he did was God told him. I pray that when the time comes for me to step out begin really running the race that I can do as well as Jerry. Well I've graduated to a new place in my life and a new race to run. I'm ready to run, I always need more training, but I'll do "whatever it takes" to finish the race well. May God bless my work, give me wisdom and grace, and more importantly give me a chance to run a race worthy of Him. Thank you Lord for everything that You've given me, thank You for a chance to be taught by the best, and thank You for again showing that there's hope for me. God Rocks! Jtw

Jerry Falwell

Today I got a call and heard the news of the death of Jerry Falwell. My first reaction was...What the crap!! How can a great man such as this, a man who'd been instrumental to the progression of Christ in the world. It's true, Jerry said some stupid things in his time, but no more myself. He just said it on TV and I didn't. I'm definitely surprised at this, but remembering that I'll see him again in Heaven is awesome. I can remember him talking to people at school and him almost running over people in his SUV on a regular basis. His influence over Christians and his contribution will never be forgotten.

I think an expression that I heard when at Liberty is fitting for this great man.

"Today the devil is cheering for this man is no longer in the fight"

This is how I choose to remember Jerry Falwell and I hope everyone else does as well. God bless the ministry of Jerry Falwell, God bless the family of Jerry Falwell, and God bless everyone that has been touched by God's chosen Vessel of the servant of Jerry Falwell.

God Rocks, Jtw

New Job and the Move

Alright well it's been a week now since we've moved. It's weird, but God likes to freak me out. As some of you know, the place we were moving to fell through at the last moment. The very awesome pastor at the church that I'm now working at found us this cool house. It of course needs a lot of work, but it was at the last moment. God likes to wait until the last moment. For a long time I've prayed for the job i have now. Now we've moved, we have low rent until we get our house, we have family near by to help us out with lots of stuff, and a more importantly a church that loves us to death. I do have to ask, what did I do to be blessed this much. I'm nothing special or anything worth giving all this great blessings to. So, why did God choose to bless me with so much. Don't get me wrong, I praise Him everyday and Thank Him everyday for this. I'm nothing but a poor, horrible sinner. This is where I'm at now. I have the greatest Job ever and really understand grace for the first time. I've always knew in my mind what grace is, but now I know what grace is in my heart. Grace is getting what I deserve, regardless of what I've done. God has showed me Grace! He's given me what I've prayed for and waited for, but I know for no reason do I deserve it. For now I will Thank God and pray now for what He wants me to do with this great present He's given me. I do ask for those that read this to also pray that I get the guidance for what He wants me to do and the wisdom to know it when I see it. Thank you GOD for everything. God Rocks, Jtw

PRAISE GOD I've got the JOB

If you don't know yet I've got a new job that starts the last week in April. As many people know I went to school to learn how to do the work of a youth pastor. I've excepted the position of Student Pastor at West Yadkin Baptist Church in Hamptonville, NC. It's like 15 minutes from where I grew up. All I can say is PRAISE GOD on giving me a chance to serve Him in this capacity again. So We're moving April 28th, to where I'm not sure yet. I could use every one's help that's willing to come help. Well Thanks for all the prayers and all the help since I started down this road. God Rocks!! Jtw

Good Birthday? We'll see later

Hey everyone. For those that don't know, my birthday was yesterday. I spent the entire day and night very sick. I even had a higher fever than I should have allowed. Today I've called into work b/c I still have a high fever, but I'm getting better. So continue to pray for that. Tonight we're going back to NC for the weekend and I have some good medicine there.

What this e-mail is really about it that I need your prayers big time for Sunday. Sunday I have an interview at an awesome church as their youth pastor. I've been praying about this since the day I got the phone call. I've looked at the pros and cons, but still waiting on the Go from God.

So here's what I need...pray that God will either give me the Go or do like the last interview and make the NO obvious to me. I appreciate your help and thanks for the prayers. God Rocks, JtW

Patience and Pain

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you'd do anything for it. This isn't something that you just casually want and can let go, but instead something that overwhelmes your thinking. This is how I feel about being a youth pastor. This is my passion. So much that I and my wife left all we know and completely changed our lives to make this happen. The issue is that now I've come to a place where I can do it, but find that the vision God's given me will not only take a long time but at the same time take a specific place. This means that I must wait. I believe in God and know He's more incredibly awesome than I could ever understand. I wish He'd give me just a little more of what he wants...the how would be nice. You might ask, ok there's the patience part, but what about the pain? Well the pain comes from wanting to get going. I'm like a viper car in a parking lot. It has a need to get out do what it was meant to do, but can't b/c it's not the time yet. I'm ready, I'm willing, so where's the mission? I feel like Isaiah, God's asking who will go for me, and Isaiah is jumping, screaming I will go, send me! So now the patience and pain are mixed. For now I jump and scream...and yet I wait! God rocks, Jtw