Today, my daughter’s class had a special visitor! Snowbird from Channel 4 news!!
A Super, Huge, Ginormous Announcement
Today, an official announcement was made by the elders of the Northwest Tampa Church of Christ to their membership that they have asked us to join their ministry team. I will join their team in Tampa, Florida, as the preaching minister in March.
A few months ago, I had a phone interview with the elders there. Throughout the course of that interview, I was blown away by the passion, the excitement, and the zeal behind their questions for me, as well as their answers to my questions. I walked downstairs to my wife, Kristen, and told her – “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse – but I would love to work for this church. It sounds amazing.”
After our first visit, we realized it didn’t just sound amazing, it IS amazing. We fell in love with the family there during our first visit, and just as important, our daughter fell in love with them on our second visit to the point where she shed tears when we had to come home. They have a ton of young children there, and the future is certainly bright.
We believe wholeheartedly that God has brought us together. As Paul says in Romans 8:28 – “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” As we love God, I am excited about working together with the church family at Northwest Tampa, for the purpose of growing the Kingdom.
We believe that the church is a family, a family where anyone is welcome and everyone is loved. We believe in the mission of this church and we are excited about serving and growing alongside them. We look forward to dedicating many years of service to them. We look forward to working with a wonderful ministry team in place, under the oversight of some amazing elders.
May God bless us all as we move forward, as we all do our part to grow His Kingdom. We solicit your prayers as we embark on this new and exciting adventure!
Tomorrow When You Go To Church
Tomorrow when you go to church, remember to praise God. Remember that God took time to create the heavens, and the earth, and all the things in it. Remember he took time to create life – full of emotions, love, friendships, family, and much more. Remember he took time to create you.
Tomorrow when you go to church, remember how much it cost. No, I’m not talking about the building you’re in, or the property you’re on, or anything else like that. Sure you may be in a pretty building – and it may be brand new, or renovated, or old, or dilapidated – but that’s not what I’m talking about. The church you are a part of cost someone his life. God almighty, the one who created you, sent his Son to die for you because you messed up.
Tomorrow when you go to church, remember to love. Love others. Be kind. Don’t just love people you know, but love the ones who come through the door that you’ve never met before. Talk to them, ask them to sit with you, and be genuine. Ask them out to lunch, and enjoy making new friends over Mexican food.
Tomorrow when you go to church, know that the preacher has worked very hard to prepare a message. He’s prayed about it, studied for it, practiced going over it, and is excited about it. The message may or may not directly affect you – so if you’re a single person and he’s talking about marriage – be prayerful that will help the marriages in your congregation, and that maybe it will help you as you search for your soulmate.
Tomorrow when you go to church, remember that the song leader/worship minister did not pick songs out that you don’t like on purpose. Typically, they pick songs out that go along with the theme of the message that the preacher is preaching. He did not think “What song does Joe not care for that I could lead so I can annoy him?” I promise, that’s not what happened.
Tomorrow when you go to church, remember its not just about praising God – but its also about edifying and building each other up. You can do this by smiling at someone, talking to someone, helping someone around, and making them feel comfortable worshipping as well.
And finally, remember – tomorrow, go to church. Not just because its what God wants, but because the church needs you.
The Best of … Blog posts that YOU NEED to read
Today, I’d like to share with you some powerful blogs/articles I read this past week. Please go and read over these. They will change your life!
- 9 Leadership Principles from Amazon and How They Apply to Your Church by Joshua Reich http://joshuareich.org/books/__-leadership-principles-amazon-apply-church/
- The Funeral You Probably Missed by Jon Acuff http://acuff.me/2015/01/funeral-probably-missed/
- Why God Cares About Football written by James T. Wood, hosted on Peter Horne’s blog http://www.godmeetsball.com/2015/01/why-god-cares-about-football.html?m=1
- Pedestals Are For Dead People by John G. Miller http://qbq.com/pedestals-are-for-dead-people/
Thursday Potpourri Volume 2
Thursday Potpourri is back. Here are some random thoughts from the past week:
- “Deflate”gate is in full force, with the New England Patriots being accused of deflating footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts so they could have an edge in the poor weather. My opinion – sure they did it. How else do you explain it? 11 of 12 footballs deflated? Did it make a difference in the final outcome? Whose to say, but I don’t think the 40 point drumming of the Colts is due to a deflated football. My prediction is that New England will lose a draft pick or two if found guilty.
- My pick for the Super Bowl this year, between the Seahawks and the Patriots, I’ll go with the Seahawks.
- I took a trip to McKay used bookstore today in Nashville. I had never been to their newer location. Its the size of a gymnasium – its massive – and its filled with books, dvds, cds, electronics, and more. All these items are used, and a rather decent bargain. I filled 3 totes with books, and 1 tote with DVDS, and made a decent amount of money selling those. Word to the wise: If you’re over there often, take the store credit – you’ll get practically double the cash you would receive. It is a very clean, friendly environment. I highly recommend it
I’m In A Lot of Trouble…
Tonight, before bedtime, we had a thrilling family game of Trouble. Here’s one of the two people trying to beat me. FYI – I kicked tail…
Don’t Forget This:
I Don’t (just) Believe in Jesus
Do you believe in Jesus?
Tonight, a simple thought that I hope will challenge you as a Christian:
Belief in Jesus just isn’t enough. There has to be behavior that follows.
Do you remember what James 2:19 says? It reminds us “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” Satan and his demons believe in God, believe in Jesus, and believe in the Spirit.
Believing is great. I believe in Jesus. But that is not enough.
There has to be action. There has to be response. How will you show you are a believer? What will you do to show that you’re a follower of Jesus? Belief is just a step. Taking action is a big step – will you take it?
Things That Make This Grown Man Cry: Volume 1
- Watching a group of grown men praise God after the NFC Championship football game – giving Him glory and honor for their talents. Bonus – having a guy from the losing Packers team in the circle with a bunch of Seahawks players, plus having a coach in there as well.
(This picture is actually from the Rams/Seahawks game on December 29, 2014)
- Hearing people tell you that they’ve been praying for you. Knowing that they are sincere.
- Today we snuck over to my parents to worship with them at Maple Hill. I love watching my father play with my daughter. He’s so patient, loving, kind, and compassionate. He brought down an old jar of bubble gum trinkets from when he was a small child, and told of how his grandfather used to give him 10 pennies every Saturday, and he would get 10 trinkets out of the bubble gum machines. He saved all of them, and he was able to make my modern, technological loving little girl be awe inspired by small, tiny, plastic trinkets from 60 years ago.
(these weren’t the actual trinkets – I failed to snap a picture of the two of them looking at them – my father’s trinkets were much older!)
- God’s blessings. When I stop and think about how much He loves me – I can’t help but shed a tear.
Help Wanted: Do You Have What it Takes?
Can you help me out for a second?
I’m in the process of trying to commit more time to writing on my blog. One thing that is needed to make a blog successful is to have some followers. I have several right now, but am looking to increase my readership.
I don’t want to do this just so I can have massive amounts of people following. In fact, I’m not a numbers guy at all. The reason I want to do this is because I feel like this is a very effective way of reaching people who are lost, reaching those who are spiritually confused, or those who are seeking. You never know what someone scrolling through social media may be struggling with these days, and when you share something – it may be just what someone needs that day!
You can help me in these ways:
- Please “Follow” my blog via email. I will never spam you, or send you requests for things – this simply means that when I make a post, you’ll get an email notifying you that I have a new blog post up. You can do this by looking to the top right of the page, and click on the “Follow” button. It looks like this:
- Favorite and Re-tweet my posts on Twitter. I automatically share my posts to Twitter when I publish them, so if you see them on Twitter – could you just hit the Favorite button, and then hit the re-tweet button as well. You can follow me on Twitter @lanewidick
- Like and Share my posts on Facebook. Just hit the like button, and then hit the share button. You can make a comment, you can tag someone in the share that you know may need that thought that day.
- Do this for others. For ministers, this is just one extra way we can enlarge our sphere of influence for the Kingdom.
Thanks everyone!
Being Changed from the Inside Out 