by Josh Monda | Aug 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Jun 21
Posted by Josh
Today was fathers day and it was a wonderful and great day. This is a fathers day I will never forget. Sure I had the usual fathers day steak and the good food, I got the fathers day cards and it was awesome to be with my son on fathers day. In addition to this we had an awesome church picnic and swimming at the lake, there was a whole hog smoked it was awesome even thoughI did not eat any hog (diet).
Though all of this was awesome it pails in comparison to the best fathers day present I could get. You see a few months back my daughter came to know Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. After talking with her on several occasions she decided that she wanted to be baptized and tonight I had the most wonderful privilege of baptizing my daughter. This is a fathers day I will ever forget and that I will remember until the day I die. Thanks so much Pastor Tim you will never know how much this has meant to me.
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by Josh Monda | Aug 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Aug 10
Posted by Josh
A few days ago my wife sent me an email that said you should try this. When I looked at the email it was about Joshua Griffin’s website and how he was looking for guest posts. Joshua Griffin is the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Anyways I really did not think I would be able to write and article that was good enough to be accepted nor did I think I had much to share that people would want to read. I can imagine he has alot more readers than I do. Albeit I have had alot of people coming to my site to download my resume lately primarily because they want a sample. Anyway I thought about it and decided to at least give it a shot.
I sat at my computer and to be honest I just kept drawing blanks. I had no idea what I was going to right about and my mind just kept going back to my experiences over the last year. Finally it came to me. I thought about alot of people coming to my site to see a sample resume which in turn made me realize their are alot of people looking for positions right now. If these people are anything like me they may have been looking for awhile or they may end up looking for awhile. So that is what I decided to right about. My post goes live august 17th if you want to read it you can check it out here when it goes live.
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by Josh Monda | Aug 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Aug 03
Missions Trip To Chalchuapa El Salvador
Posted by Josh
I just recently returned from a World changer Missions trip that took place down in Daytona Beach Florida. We had a great time serving dow there. Some of our people painted houses while others worked on roofing projects throughout the city. We had a great time and I personally feel that our group bonded well and it was a nice chance for me to hang out with some teens. I love going on Missions trips and seeing how God works through the lives of those who attend.
Well next month I will have the opportunity to serve on another Missions Trip however this one is a little further away. You see we will be going to Chalchuapa El Salvador and we will be serving the Lord there. This is not my first foreign missions trip however it is my first on with First Baptist Church Macon. I am looking forward to what God is going to do on this trip and I am also looking forward to meeting the people in Chalchuapa. In addition to this I am excited to build deeper and stronger relationships with those in our church. However we all know that in order to serve on a missions trip it takes support. If you would like to support me I have included a donation button below. However if you would like to read my letter on how you can make a tax deductible contribution you can do so here.
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application, Uncategorized
Jul 16
Heading To Florida- Daytona Beach – World Changers Mission Trip
Posted by Josh
I thought I would take a few minutes and talk briefly about a Mission’s Trip I have coming up. I love going on missions trips and being involved in working, and helping others in need. In addition I have only been to Florida one time so this will be a nice chance to go again. We will be going with over 30 teenagers to Daytona Beach and will be painting and doing some roofing projects. I will be doing some roofing while there something I have no experience with. However I am looking forward to learning and then maybe I can help others later on as well.
The organization we will be going with is World Changers. I am excited about this as well because so far they have been extremely organized in how they have handled everything. We have already received a photo of the house we will be working on and exactly what we will be doing. If you get a chance to work with this organization I would encourage you to do so.
I am also excited because we are going to stop in Sikeston Mo on the way down there and go to Lamberts Cafe you may have seen them featured on the travel channel. This is the place where they literally throw rolls at you and serve your food in huger portions. I have wanted to go there for awhile so this will be cool.
In addition in September I will be going to El Salvador but I will tell more about that later.
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
May 13
Clayton’s Story
Posted by Josh
This is a powerful video that not only all teens should see but all people. It is worth a few moments of your time
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
May 04
So Bizarre – Bizarre Foods Sneak Peak
Posted by Josh
One show I like to watch around my house is Bizarre foods. Now I know that this show may gross some people out but for me the culinary appetite of Andrew Zimmern is mind boggling. He often seems to have a way of taking some food that you may think sounds like the grossest things in the world abd make it sound good and even seem good when he tries it.
If you have not watched Bizarre foods it is on the Travel Channel on Tuesdays at 10pm eastern. On the show Andrew tries everything that you could possible imagine. From bats, to intestines, to everything in between. many times I wish I could be in the countries that he travels too and try some of the food he tries. Though I may never experience it I sometimes feel as though I get to experience it through him. Here is a sneak peak of tomorrows episode. I encourage you to stop by and watch it remember Tuesdays at 10pm on the travel channel.
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My Thoughts
Apr 22
Taco Bell Song This is Sweet
Posted by Josh
I found this video and thought I would share. The guy taking the order is good.
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My Thoughts
Mar 14
It’s Been Awhile
Posted by Josh
It has been along time since I have posted primarily because I have been so busy. I know that is hard to believe that I have been busy without a job but I sure I have been. Rather than update about Mike Erre’s book (I will do that later) I thought I would just give some things that have been going on in my life.
I’ll start with the crusade we recently had. I meet with one of our Pastors pretty regularly and I really enjoy the time I get to spend with him. Leading up to the crusade he asked me if I would like to help with train the counselors I of course jumped at the opportunity because this is the very thing I love to do. So I spent a few nights getting things ready and going over the training and then we trained the counselors for two evenings, to be ready for the response we were expecting during the crusade. The Impact Macon Crusade was February 22-25 and I was there every night. We saw God move in a remarkable way during that week we saw over 100 decisions for Christ and over 90 0n one night. I must say I was not ready for over 90 people to respond to the gospel that night but it was wonderful. Hey they were all counseled to.
Secondly I was asked if I could teach a book of the Bible to the youth what book would it be. I replied I would go through the book of James and the response was “why don’t you teach it” of course I jumped at that any time I get a chance to teach some teens I am going to do it. So on Sunday nights I am taking our Student Overflow through James. I pray and hope they are enjoying it. I have already taught through James so I already have the messages done, but if you know me you know I spend a great deal of time with message prep even if I have already done it before and making sure I am saying what the Lord wants me to say.
Thirdly the first week in March I started taking over the Wednesday evening teaching to the Youth. This has been going great once again I love teaching the teens. On Wednesdays I typically play a game with them and then we go over prayer requests and then I teach. I desire to see both these ministries grow tremendously and I have seen God definitely working on the hearts of some of the teens that come.
Fourthly I received a call from the principal here at Atlanta school and was asked if I could come in and teach Science while the current teacher is away on maternity leave. I accepted the position. Which if you are a teacher you know the work that gos into lessons and so forth. So for the next few weeks I am now a Science teacher. I must say that teaching in the public school is a lot different then teaching in Christian School, or teaching at church, however the kids seem to like me as a teacher and some even thanked me for teaching.
Finally all of this has been happening while still sending out resumes (required for state aid) and while going through an interview process with a church that is interested me. So yeah I have been busy but hey I like being busy. Please pray I will be directed to the church God wants me at and that I will know it and so will the church.
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Life, My Thoughts
Mar 14
It’s Been Awhile
Posted by Josh
It has been along time since I have posted primarily
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Life, My Thoughts
Dec 18
Learning From an Atheist about Evangelism
Posted by Josh
I believe this video speaks for itself. You may recognize him from Pen and Teller fame. The video should really cause us to rethink our evangelistic efforts.
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Nov 20
Forgiveness
Posted by Josh
Yesterday was a busy day for me. Â I spent the day seeing patients for the first time and spent the day with several people. Â I had a good day it was fun to spend time with some people yet at the same time difficult knowing that these people are in the last days of their lives.Â
I enjoyed my time with one patient in particular. Â We took time to look at an old car magazine together and I read to him about some of the cars. Â We looked at the prices of some of the cars when they first came out and I shared with him what the horsepower was. Â Even though he could not speak well enough fro me to understand him I could see in his expression and in his eyes that he liked the fact that I took the time to be with him. Â It saddened me to know that perhaps this guy had a very little interaction with men now that he was in a nursing home and more then likely he was lonely and wanted a man to just show some interest in him and who he was. Â I knew he liked cars because he had a picture of an old car hanging on his board. Â My time with him was valuable.
However, this got me to thinking.  What would it be like to talk to someone and to know that they can not understand you.  I know his mind works but it must be difficult to know you can not communicate in a way that people understand you.  For some reason my thoughts turned to forgiveness.  What would it be like to want to say to someone “I forgive you yet not be able to”.  How difficult that must be.
My thoughts have turned to my father.  My father was alcoholic and that is really all I knew him as.  In fact it was a rare moment that my father was sober.  I remember the yelling and the screaming I remember the violent way he behaved when he was drunk.  I could not stand it.  I wanted an escape a way out.  Eventually my mother and father were divorced and I rarely saw my dad.  It got to the point where I never say him and in fact did not even know where he was.  I remember when my dad first found where I was and I m in that first letter he wrote and asked if I would ever be able to forgive him.  My response was “dad I forgave you long ago”  It was barely a year later that my father was murdered on the street of Arizona for a measly 11 dollars.  But what if I had never had the opportunity to tell him I forgave him and what I he never had the opportunity to ask.
This has been on my mind. Â Forgiveness can be a powerful thing and I am so thankful that I have been forgiven by Jesus Christ. Â I am so thankful for the grace that is experienced through the blood of Jesus Christ. Â It took me a long time to get to the point where have forgiven some in my old congregation and how things were handled. Â In fact if I am honest bitterness began to take root in me. Â Do I agree with how things were handled? Â The answer is a resounding no. Â Do I forgive how things were handled the answer is yes. Â I did not want to forgive but God began to break me and I got to the point where I knew without forgiveness my life would eventually be useless in the hands of the potter. Â Now perhaps there are those that think they have done nothing wrong but regardless of the fact I forgive, and have forgiven those that have hurt me. Â I pray God’s grace may abound.
I also know that in my life I am not so naive to think that I do not need forgiveness.  I know I have screwed up many times and many times my errors have hurt others maybe those I have hurt will forgive me.  This I know without forgiveness we are not following Christ.  It would be a terrible thing to want to tell someone you forgive them and not be able to say a thing. Â
Tomorrow I will spend some time with a man that will most likely be dead very soon I am responsible for his spiritual care.  What would it be like to pass away without forgiving I pray I never know.
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Oct 13
This Moved Me
Posted by Josh
After watching this video I was deeply moved. Â Man how often do we just play the game and put on the face. Â How many in our churches may be doing this every sunday.
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Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
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by Josh Monda | Aug 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
It was a long time coming. I still remember the early days in my ministry after I had been ministering at First Baptist Church in Atlanta MO and right before I went to Exeter Bible Church in PA I was going to be ordained. However Exeter wanted to ordain me so I held off. The problem came when 9 months after I arrived at Exeter the pastor left and we began a rather long search for a pastor. We did find a Pastor and a few years after that I thought it might be a good time to go through the ordination process. Once again it was halted by my resignation and my subsequent move back to Missouri.
This all leads me up to where God may possibly be leading me. After moving back to Missouri I began to try to find a church to minister in as a youth pastor with little success. During this this time of looking for a youth pastorate I had many friends and family ask me if I had ever considered beign a Sr. Pastor. To be honest that has never even really been on my radar. So often my response has simply been no and God has called me to youth ministry. However that began to change for me over time.
I became a member at FBC macon nearly a year ago. I needed a place where my wife and myself could find healing and a place that we could call home. We found it at FBC macon. I have had the priviledge t osit under some great teachign while being there and have had the awesome privledge to have to pastors I consider friends. I know these men love me and I feel the same way about them. It was at this church that God began to change my though process. It was here that God let minister. It was a few months ago that I had a conversation with Pastor Tim and we began to talk and he said “i believe God may be calling you to be Sr. Pastor” and htough I had heard this many times before this time it was sinking in.
After that conversation I began to pray even harder and seek what God could be saying to me. Though I did not feel I had a clear answer from God I did feel that if God wanted this He would reveal it to me. So I decided to pursue it a little farther and I submitted my resume to a couple pf church that I felt would be a good fit for me. I really did not expect to get a call. One of those churches called me within minutes after receiveing my resume, in addition I have been contacted by other church that received my resume from others. Could htis be the Lord’s leading? Right now I believe it is indeed God’s direction. God has given me a peace about this which I never though I would have. I pray for god to lead me to the right place.
To top all of this off I had a wonderful ordination service this past Sunday night. The encouragement I recieved form the deacons and other pastors was overwhelming to me. I am honored the FBC Macon has seen qualities in me worthy of Ordination. I want to be where God wants me and nowhere else and if that mean I am a Sr. Pastor that is what I want. Please pray for God’s direction.
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