by Josh Monda | Jun 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
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
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
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.
Life, My Thoughts
Mar 14
It’s Been Awhile
Posted by Josh
It has been along time since I have posted primarily
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.
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.
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.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Oct 03
The New Barak Obama
Posted by Josh
After lastnights VP debate Obama decided he had to change his tactics because of Sarah Palin so this is what he came up with.
This is satire.
Life, My Thoughts
Sep 29
Free Porn Book Porn-Again Christian
Posted by Josh
I was recently doing some online surfing and came across this free ebook on Mark Drsicoll’s site. Â This book deals with men and porn and is title Porn-Again Christian. Â All of the book is not there yet but it will be soon. Â Simply click on the link below and bookmark the site they also have an RSS feed. Â Warning this book will be very frank.
…some years ago I sat down and in one day wrote a small booklet about male sexuality that we published in-house. Since then we have gone through thousands of copies and literally cannot keep it in stock. I asked some Christian publishers if they wanted it, and they said it was too hot to handle and so they declined.So, I decided to just put it online and give it away for free. The book has had a small amount of editing and rewriting since its original version. We’ll give it away at the Resurgencea bit at a time in conjunction with the Song of Songs series I am preaching titled “The Peasant Princess.” Once the entire book has been put online, it will then be posted as a file that guys around the world can download and read on their computer, forward to their friends, or print copies of to hand out as they like.
I hope this thing goes nuts and hundreds of thousands of guys read it.
In closing, I want to say two things. One, a lot of folks will not like the content or tone of this book and I love them and wish them well. You get what you pay for and this is free. Two, a lot of young guys (and some older guys too) tell me they have been helped by this content and if God uses it to help some guys I would be overjoyed with that. So, let the critics fire away and I’ll gladly take the shots for the guys who are walking wounded in an effort to help them get their shield up and sword sharpened.
Until we see Jesus,
Pastor Mark Driscoll
Porn Again Christian e-Book
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 23
I vote for Life
Posted by Josh
This is something I recently read concerning Obama.
David Freddoso:
When Barack Obama spoke on the Illinois Senate floor in 2001 against Illinois’ born-alive protection bill, did not say that a pre-viable baby is not a “person.” He argued, rather, that even though the state should perhaps provide care for these babies, any recognition of their personhood would create unacceptable consequences. Again, his words, at length, so there’s no uncertainty about context:
There was some suggestion that we might be able to craft something that might meet constitutional muster with respect to caring for fetuses or children who were deliever in this fashion. Unfortunately, this bill goes a little bit further, and so I just want to suggest, not that I think it’ll make too much difference with respect to how we vote, that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny. Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, infact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a – a child, a nine-month-old – child that was delievered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. (Taken from the transcript of the Illinois 92nd Assembly, Mar. 30, 2001.)
Wow. Did you catch that? Since Roe vs. Wade is threatened, then we are allowed to commit murder? You would think it would be the other way around, right? We should not be allowed to kill babies that are born alive from survived abortions and if Roe vs. Wade is threatened, then so be it. Does that logic not follow? But Obama’s stance is as follows: If we have to sacrifice some born alive infants to make sure “women have the right to choose” then that’s what we’ll have to do. How backwards is that?
Read this again: “Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, infact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a – a child, a nine-month-old – child that was delievered to term…”Â
You would think that if you read this paragraph in isolation that what would come next is, “so we need to do exactly that. Protect these persons.” But sadly, it’s not. For Obama, our personhood is not defined by anything specific other than the need to uphold Roe vs. Wade. I think the basis of our personhood should be rooted in ground that is much more solid than the pragmatic need to see the Democratic ticket upheld. Would you not agree? Does this not follow for you Obama voter?
Friends, this man has morally disqualified himself on this issue alone. Don’t drink the Obamalaide.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 19
How do You Change a Church?
Posted by Josh
I snagged this post from over at church relevance I enjoyed it and wanted to put it up here on my site.
Scott Hodge of The Orchard (Aurora, IL) opened up day 2 of MinistryCOM with a keynote on change. Scott is not only the lead pastor but the communications director as well. Here are some “tweaked” highlights from his talk:
How do you change a church that has been doing things the same way for too long?
The biggest challenge is changing the way that people think about church. People want to reach people for God, but they like to reach them on their terms.
God can birth a new culture for your church.
A communication director’s job is not to decide or dictate the vision of the church. A communication director’s job to to translate and clrify the vision so that people can get it.
Sometimes whole visions live or die on the basis of the words the leader chooses for articulating the vision.
-Bill Hybels ::Â Axiom
When you have a clear and compelling mission, you have the opportunity to create alignment.
Vision is not sticky. you have to recast it and recast it and recast it.
-Andy Stanley
Ask Yourself Three Questions
- Who is God calling us to reach?
Who has God positioned us or uniquely equipped us with the ability to reach effectively?
- What is it going to take to reach them?
What is it that we need to stop doing in order to effectively reach the people that we are called to reach? Sometimes your clearest vision starts simply by knowing what you do not want to be and stopping those things that feed it. What do we need to start doing?
- Are we willing to pay the price?
When you start trying to reach the people God has called you to reach, some people will not like it. You will lose something (reputation, appeal, etc).
You have the opportunity to create culture. That culture is created by everything, including what you choose to celebrate as well as who and what you allow to have influence in your church.
Communicate the why behind the what. Do not just tell people what is happening. Explain why you are doing it.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
keep looking »
by Josh Monda | Jun 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
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
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
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.
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.
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.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 29
Free Porn Book Porn-Again Christian
Posted by Josh
I was recently doing some online surfing and came across this free ebook on Mark Drsicoll’s site. Â This book deals with men and porn and is title Porn-Again Christian. Â All of the book is not there yet but it will be soon. Â Simply click on the link below and bookmark the site they also have an RSS feed. Â Warning this book will be very frank.
…some years ago I sat down and in one day wrote a small booklet about male sexuality that we published in-house. Since then we have gone through thousands of copies and literally cannot keep it in stock. I asked some Christian publishers if they wanted it, and they said it was too hot to handle and so they declined.So, I decided to just put it online and give it away for free. The book has had a small amount of editing and rewriting since its original version. We’ll give it away at the Resurgencea bit at a time in conjunction with the Song of Songs series I am preaching titled “The Peasant Princess.” Once the entire book has been put online, it will then be posted as a file that guys around the world can download and read on their computer, forward to their friends, or print copies of to hand out as they like.
I hope this thing goes nuts and hundreds of thousands of guys read it.
In closing, I want to say two things. One, a lot of folks will not like the content or tone of this book and I love them and wish them well. You get what you pay for and this is free. Two, a lot of young guys (and some older guys too) tell me they have been helped by this content and if God uses it to help some guys I would be overjoyed with that. So, let the critics fire away and I’ll gladly take the shots for the guys who are walking wounded in an effort to help them get their shield up and sword sharpened.
Until we see Jesus,
Pastor Mark Driscoll
Porn Again Christian e-Book
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 23
I vote for Life
Posted by Josh
This is something I recently read concerning Obama.
David Freddoso:
When Barack Obama spoke on the Illinois Senate floor in 2001 against Illinois’ born-alive protection bill, did not say that a pre-viable baby is not a “person.” He argued, rather, that even though the state should perhaps provide care for these babies, any recognition of their personhood would create unacceptable consequences. Again, his words, at length, so there’s no uncertainty about context:
There was some suggestion that we might be able to craft something that might meet constitutional muster with respect to caring for fetuses or children who were deliever in this fashion. Unfortunately, this bill goes a little bit further, and so I just want to suggest, not that I think it’ll make too much difference with respect to how we vote, that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny. Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, infact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a – a child, a nine-month-old – child that was delievered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. (Taken from the transcript of the Illinois 92nd Assembly, Mar. 30, 2001.)
Wow. Did you catch that? Since Roe vs. Wade is threatened, then we are allowed to commit murder? You would think it would be the other way around, right? We should not be allowed to kill babies that are born alive from survived abortions and if Roe vs. Wade is threatened, then so be it. Does that logic not follow? But Obama’s stance is as follows: If we have to sacrifice some born alive infants to make sure “women have the right to choose” then that’s what we’ll have to do. How backwards is that?
Read this again: “Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we’re really saying is, infact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a – a child, a nine-month-old – child that was delievered to term…”Â
You would think that if you read this paragraph in isolation that what would come next is, “so we need to do exactly that. Protect these persons.” But sadly, it’s not. For Obama, our personhood is not defined by anything specific other than the need to uphold Roe vs. Wade. I think the basis of our personhood should be rooted in ground that is much more solid than the pragmatic need to see the Democratic ticket upheld. Would you not agree? Does this not follow for you Obama voter?
Friends, this man has morally disqualified himself on this issue alone. Don’t drink the Obamalaide.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 19
How do You Change a Church?
Posted by Josh
I snagged this post from over at church relevance I enjoyed it and wanted to put it up here on my site.
Scott Hodge of The Orchard (Aurora, IL) opened up day 2 of MinistryCOM with a keynote on change. Scott is not only the lead pastor but the communications director as well. Here are some “tweaked” highlights from his talk:
How do you change a church that has been doing things the same way for too long?
The biggest challenge is changing the way that people think about church. People want to reach people for God, but they like to reach them on their terms.
God can birth a new culture for your church.
A communication director’s job is not to decide or dictate the vision of the church. A communication director’s job to to translate and clrify the vision so that people can get it.
Sometimes whole visions live or die on the basis of the words the leader chooses for articulating the vision.
-Bill Hybels ::Â Axiom
When you have a clear and compelling mission, you have the opportunity to create alignment.
Vision is not sticky. you have to recast it and recast it and recast it.
-Andy Stanley
Ask Yourself Three Questions
- Who is God calling us to reach?
Who has God positioned us or uniquely equipped us with the ability to reach effectively?
- What is it going to take to reach them?
What is it that we need to stop doing in order to effectively reach the people that we are called to reach? Sometimes your clearest vision starts simply by knowing what you do not want to be and stopping those things that feed it. What do we need to start doing?
- Are we willing to pay the price?
When you start trying to reach the people God has called you to reach, some people will not like it. You will lose something (reputation, appeal, etc).
You have the opportunity to create culture. That culture is created by everything, including what you choose to celebrate as well as who and what you allow to have influence in your church.
Communicate the why behind the what. Do not just tell people what is happening. Explain why you are doing it.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 17
What are we waiting for?
Posted by Josh
In my reading of “Confessions of a reformission rev.” I came across this.
I am still not sure if most pastors are aware that their churches are comprised of people they don’t yet know. Â Those people will never come to the churches so the Pastor must go to them.
This is definitely not the norm.  Rarely do we see pastors taking this to heart.  This is once again a difference between a missional church and other churches.  The missional church believes in the fact and clearly teaches that everyone is a missionary what more the missional church teaches how every member can be a missionary.  To often the pastor pawns it off on the people and the people pawn it off on the the Pastor.  However the Pastor and the people must work in concert with one another.  Both must be out meeting knew people.  People are not just going to show up at our churches anymore we have to go get them.
Here is a second quote I found
It was at this time that I realized that our church would never have a sign out front that said “everyone welcome,” because I did not want everyone.
Now perhaps we would say that Driscoll is wrong for this. Â But is he really? Â How many churches have this idea that everyone is welcome and sure they say that but in reality they do not mean it. Â In fact certain people show up and they quickly realize they are not welcome. Â What about the person that comes in and causes division in the church are they welcome? Â We can think of many circumstance where people may not be welcome cant we? Â Something to chew on.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 16
I Shouldn’t be Alive
Posted by Josh
Last-night on “Hannity and Colmes” Gianna Jessen shared some of her story.  If Obama was president at her birth she would be dead.  She handles herself well.  Check out the video.  This issue is going to heat up in this election especially with the fact that Sarah Palin’s baby Trig being born with Down Syndrome.  It is estimated that between 80 and 90 percent of all pregnancies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are murdered.  Watch the video below.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
Sep 12
Change and grow don’t change and don’t Grow
Posted by Josh
I am reading a book by Mark Driscoll who is the pastor of Mars Hill Church.  The title of the book is Confessions of  a Reformission Rev.  I will probably post about this book throughout the coming weeks as I find things in it that I find interesting.  I am definitely intrigues by the book and love the way Driscoll rights though for some I am sure he would be considered harsh and brash.  While reading the book it was speaking about change and something really stood out to me.
For a church to grow it must also accept that the church will change. Â The problem with most churches is not that they don’t want to experience conversion growth but rather that they don’t want to change, which negates their ability to grow and is a sin to be repented of.
Over the years I have been blown away by churches that refuse to change.  Not change just for the sake of change but change in order to be most effective where they are at.  Instead they want to keep things they way they are the same music, the same standards, the same lack of vision, the same programs, etc.  In reality this is sin and should indeed be repented of. Â
If the church does not change I am afraid the church will eventually die.  By our refusal to look at and do things in a different way we are telling others they really mean little to us and worse we are often telling our communities that they do not matter.  We are to often inward focused and rarely outward focussed.  Instead of evaluating our community and doing inventory of how we can effectively reach it we get stuck in the rut of doing things the same old way, and think by some miracle people are going to be drawn to our church.  Sadly this is primarily seen in the fundamentalist mindset and the churches refusal to change to a Missional mindset causes stagnation within the congregation and breeds discontent for the generation that wants to be an effective force in their community.
The message to the church has to be clear Change and grow don’t change and don’t grow.
Life, My Thoughts, Spiritual Application
keep looking »
by Josh Monda | Jun 16, 2009 | Uncategorized
Jun 11
Rap Music Theology?
Posted by Josh
I know that is seems that there is controversy over Rap Music in fact I know of some people that would hate rap music no matter how Godly the lyrics might be. However I do not fall into that camp. In fact I love Rap Music. That reminds me of an old DC Talk song that said ”I luv rap music, I always have, and I always will”.
A little over a year ago I started listening to Shai Linne and was immediately blown away by the lyrics. This guy’s music in one song typically has more then you hear in one year of some churches. This morning while exercising on of his songs came on the ipod. The name of the song is Atonement Q and A. I have to tell you as I was going through my exercise and listened to the song I could not help but think how often our churches are failing at teaching any type of theology from the pulpit yet in one song a lot is taught. I may not agree with every minor point but at least and attempt is made. So look at the lyrics below and perhaps learn some Theology from a rap song.
Verse 1
Who is God? God is the universe’s Creator
And Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater
He is triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute
Loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes
How do we know this? Well, we know this from the Bible
Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol
What’s the Bible about? Man’s complete ruin in sin
And what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again
What is sin? Sin is the breaking of God’s law
Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws
What’s the result? The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies
And must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy
What’s the remedy? The remedy is the cross of Christ
Where He suffered all the strikes for the lawless type
I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen
And blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!
Chorus
Just fall back, and with the eyes of faith
Behold the beauty of surprising grace
Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise
He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied
Just fall back- there’s an atonement now
The cross of Christ is holy ground
Because the Lamb has died, third day He had to rise
He’s magnified- God’s wrath is satisfied
Verse 2
Regeneration- the Holy Spirit’s true work in His love
To the elect, who receive new birth from above
Expiation- expiation means God’s removed my filthiness
The old testament type was the goat into the wilderness
Redemption- we’ve been freed from slavery to sin
And His very own blood is the price He paid, my friend
Propitiation- Propitiation means since the Lamb has died
His work is finished- God’s wrath is satisfied
Adoption- adoption means God is now my Father
I got the hottest Poppa and by the Spirit holler Abba
Reconciliation means there’s no more enmity
God is now a friend to me, we’re no longer enemies
Justification- God declares us righteous
Sanctification– we’re being made into His likeness
Glorification– that’s what happens at the finish
When God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image!
Chorus
Verse 3
God’s grace is magnificent, He slayed His innocent
Son- through faith and repentance we get the benefits
What is faith? Faith is a gift from God- when we receive this
We trust and treasure the person and finished work of Jesus
Repentance? Repentance is turning from your sin
And trusting Christ as the Spirit cleanses you within
What is grace? Oh, grace is unmerited favor
Our inheritance major ‘cause we cherish the Savior
Right, and if I may quote again, we were doomed with Satan
But believers get Jesus’ righteousness through imputation
Imputation? God takes Jesus’ righteousness amount
Through faith He credits it into the Christian’s account
Anything else? Well, I guess this overview must suffice
But none of this is possible apart from union with Christ
And finally, once you know the ways of the Lord than the
only thing that you can say is Soli Deo Gloria!
Chorus
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May 26
My Ordination, Where God is leading, and so forth.
Posted by Josh
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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May 19
God’s Miracle to us
Posted by Josh
One year ago today my son was born. Micah John Monda was a surprise to both my wife and I. After nearly 8 years of trying to have a second child Micah came along. What miracle he was then and still is. He brings joy to our lives on an everyday basis with our daughter Sarai. There is nothing quite like seeing a baby develop and begin to smile and in some cases to see their daddy in them. I hope people see my daddy in me I hope my life point to my heavenly father. I will write more later on some amazing things God is doing in my life right now. Here are some pics of my son.
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Apr 18
Don’t Waste Your Life
Posted by Josh
Came across this video a little while ago and really liked it.
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Apr 13
Have You Heard of Susan Boyle? You Will
Posted by Josh
You have to check out this video. Go take a look it is awesome.
Check out the Video HERE
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Apr 05
This Is Where I Am At
Posted by Josh
I was reading this blog post tonight and it really spoke to me because this is where I am currently at in my life.
Thanks to http://timschmoyer.com
Last week in a conversation with my mentee, he asked, “How do you know if you’re called to ministry?” If we’re all honest, there have been times when each of us has questioned our calling to ministry, particularly during the difficult times. My mentee is not currently in that situation, but the issue of feeling “called out” of ministry is still a difficult one. When we go into vocational ministry, we often use language like, “God is calling me to serve at this church.” Or, when we leave one ministry position and go to another, we say, “God called me away from that ministry to this new one.” Sometimes we’re clearly over-spiritualizing a situation, sometimes not. But when we start to question the calling, let’s not confuse those emotions with ones of discouragement or insecurity. For example, if you had a lot of people encouraging and supporting you, would you still feel “called out” of ministry? If you felt affirmed by key people in your ministry, would your calling change? Remember, our calling into ministry does not come from people, nor should it be retracted by people. It comes solely from the Lord. If you’re doubting your call to ministry, don’t confuse it with feeling discouraged or insecure. Deep down, we all feel that in ministry.
Affirmation and encouragement are absolutely healthy and necessary things to have in your ministry, but never should we base a calling to ministry on the praise or opinions of others. Base your calling on the Lord’s direction in your life.
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Mar 31
Discouraged
Posted by Josh
I admit that I rarely allow discouragement to get the better of me. I typically am the type of person that allows most things to roll off my back and then move on. God has allowed me to go through alot of challenges in my life and in ministry but I can’t think of a time where I have been more discouraged. I understand and realize that God is definitely in control of all things and I suppose sometimes that is where discouragement seems to set in. Because in the reality of everything I am in control of nothing. It seems that lately I have been continually reminded of this. God has continued to teach me humility and sometimes that daily prayer that I say “God reveal in me those things that are not of You” just gets harder and harder. There are days I don’t want to say it but I continually am confronted with those thing that are not of God that are in my life.
I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to intern at making and I am doing one of the things that I love most which is ministering with students. I have had the opportunity to speak on Wednesdays and Sundays and it has been awesome sometimes to see the teens response the word of God. I have had numerous teens come and counsel with me after a message and tell me what God has spoken to them. In addition I have had adults do the same thing. God has truly blessed. However I know that God has called me to full time Christian Service and I guess that is where the discouragement comes in.
I t is so hard to know that God has called you to something and yet feel like you are not doing what God has called you to do. For the first time in my life I have questioned what God has called me to do. I know God has called me but I suppose it is hard when you sit back and you wait on Gods plan to unfold. So often we want things to happen so fast.
I have given my life to christian service. In the last 14 years I have served in two churches and have seen numerous teens come to know Christ as savior. I have seen numerous teens be baptized, and have seen numerous teens live out there faith. I pray that I have effected lives in ways that I will never know and I pray that God has somehow used me to change peoples lives forever. However I continue to find myself asking God “what about now God” God amI done? God are my days of full time ministry over? Have I done all that you wanted me to accomplish in full time ministry? I feel the answer comes back no that God has more for me. Oh but it is so hard when you cannot see it. This is just how I feel.
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Mar 17
What A Powerful Testimony Of Forgiveness
Posted by Josh
As I watched this testimony I could not help feel how powerful this testimony is not only to the grace of God but also the saving work of Jesus Christ.
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Feb 09
Can We Be Honest Here?
Posted by Josh
It has been a week since I have had a post so I thought I would get in gear. I have been watching some basketball games of the local High School here. The girls team is ranked numbers in the state for 3a ball and they are undefeated they have a good club I hope they do well. Well anyways I am not going write about basketball but continue my series from the book Why Guys Need God by Mike Erre. Today I want to share a couple of quotes from chapter 10 and talk about them a little bit.
When we come out of hiding in front of each other, relationship will take hard work and lots of grace. The church gets lots of criticism because of its imperfections.
So many times we hide who we really are. Sometimes it is like we have to put on some sort of facade so people do not see the real us. I am not sure what drives this perhaps it is fear of people seeing the real us or fear that we are not good enough. Rarely do we tell people our real struggles or the things that are keeping us from being all we want to be in Christ or all we can be in Christ. The truth is if we really do be ourselves then in fact it will take alot of hard work and lots of grace. Grace to forgive others even when we really do not want to and grace to ask for forgiveness even when we do not want to. But if we continue to pretend to be someone we are not then the church is just a place where we go to be fake. The church definitley is not perfect and we are indeed a bunch of reformed sinners going thorug the process of sanctification yet many times we act like we have already been fully sanctified and that we have no problems whatsoever.
I often wonder what would church be like if people were real. What if a man walked into Sunday school and said I am struggling with pornography and I need help, or what if a woman walked in and said I struggle with gossiping I need help, or how about I have bitterness in my heart I need help. The church is supposed to be a community loving each other and holding each other accountable but I am afraid we have become a community where everything is based on only what we want people to perceive us to be and not who we really are. We don’t want people to know our secret sins what will is take for us to stop being superficial and just be honest. It is so hard. Here us the second quote.
Most churches teach men how to pretend behind religious fig leaves. We learn to act in the right religious ways, look the right religious ways, sing the right religious ways, and so on. We usually are not encouraged to actually share how things really are. So even though we need to connect with other guys at a really deep level, the church actually often hinders this process.
Prayer isn’t a place to be good; it is a place to be honest.
I already spoke about this above. I do not think this is a problem for just men either. I think often we go to church to pretend. Pretend to be someone we are not and we rarely go just to be honest and admit our struggles.
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Feb 02
God Owes Me Nothing.
Posted by Josh
Today I want to talk about what I got out of chapter 9 of Mike Erre’s book why guys need God. THis paragraph from page 120 hit me pretty hard.
I can’t be grateful unless I see myself as small, dependant, and undeserving.
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keep looking »
by Josh Monda | Oct 6, 2008 | Uncategorized
What a busy day this turned out to be. I started the day early this morning with A Train the Trainer conference and heard Dr. John Ewart. Wow what a lot of information I have a ton to digest from this conference. I learned so much from this conference and an evangelistic concept that nearly every church is missing. I will blog about this later on after I have digested some things.
Tonight I also attended a concert with Living Sacrifice it was actually a farewell concert for them and also a group called Crossway. I enjoyed the concert but Crossway performed 2 songs that really spoke to me. The first song is Titled “Took It All Away”
TOOK IT ALL AWAY
I’VE BEEN NUMB FROM THE SHOCK OF DEVESTATION LEFT SO CONFUSED THAT IT PARALIZED MY PRAYERS AN UNEXPECTED PAIN TORE MY HEART INTO PIECES AND JUST LEFT MY FAITH HANGING THERE BUT I ROSE UP FROM ASHES OF MY DESPAIR
AND WITH YOUR STRENGTH I STOOD AND I DECLARED
CHORUS THAT IF YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY EVERY GIFT YOU EVER GAVE THE SUN THAT SHINES IN MY DAYS THE STARS THAT YOU DISPLAY AND IF YOU NEVER BLESSED AGAIN IF YOU GAVE ANOTHER TRIAL INSTEAD IF THE PRECIOUS THING THAT I HELD WAS STRIPPED OUT OF MY HAND I WOULD STAND AND PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME
IF YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY
GOD, I MUST BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE WITH ME AND THAT YOU STILL HAVE PURPOSE AND A PLAN AND WHEN YOU HAVE PROVED AND YOU HAVE TRIED ME I’LL SHINE LIKE GOLD IN YOUR HANDS AND I’LL RISE UP FROM THE ASHES OF MY DESPAIR
LORD, WITH YOUR STRENGTH I’LL STAND AND I’LL DECLARE
BRIDGE WHEN I FEEL I CAN’T LAST ANOTHER DAY I’LL CRY BLESSED BE YOUR NAME BLESSED BE YOUR NAME WHEN I CAN’T SEE THE HOPE THROUGH THE PAIN I’LL CRY BLESSED BE YOUR NAME
BLESSED BE YOUR NAME
This song just really spoke to my heart. I was forced to ask myself as I was holding my son. ”God what if you took it all away”. What would my response be would I be able to stand and declare the praises of God. This has been a rough time in my life. I have lost for a time one of the things that I held very dear to my heart. It came right after God and my family in my life and when you lose that it is difficult. I am thankful I have been able to praise God and know He has a far greater plan and that which has been meant for evil will in know way prevail. Because I will still praise my God.
The second song was Titled “When I Hear the Thunder”
WHEN I HEAR THE THUNDER
SOMETIMES AT NIGHT I CRY MYSELF TO SLEEP AFTER EVERYBODY ELSE HAS GONE TO BED KNOWIN’ ONCE AGAIN I’VE GOTTEN IN TOO DEEP
AND THE WATERS WILL SOON BE ABOVE MY HEAD
AND I BEG OF YOU TO CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND ME SO TOMORROW WON’T BE LOOKING QUITE SO DIM AND I AWAKE TO THE WATERS DEEP ENOUGH TO DROWN ME
BUT, THROUGH IT ALL YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO SWIM
CHORUS: AND WHEN I HEAR THE THUNDER, AND I THINK I’M GOIN’ UNDER I REMEMBER YOU’RE THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD YOU’VE HAD A THOUSAND CHANCES TO CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES
BUT, THANK YOU LORD, THANK YOU LORD FOR CHANGIN’ ME INSTEAD
THERE ARE TIMES I CAN’T HELP FEELIN’ LOST LIKE A SHIP DRIFTIN’ ON THE OPEN SEA AND THE WINDS AND WAVES LEAVE ME PITCHED AND TOSSED
AND A STORM BEGINS TO BUILD INSIDE OF ME
AND I BEG OF YOU TO CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND ME AS FEAR AND FAITH ARE FIGHTING FOR CONTROL AMID THE RAGING WATERS SWIRLIN’ ALL AROUND ME
YOU’VE BECOME THE ANCHOR FOR MY SOUL
This was just an awesome reminder for me especially with what was going on today that God is in control and I am not going to drowned. It was also a reminder that so often God will put us into our circumstances. I heard today that we could possibly be praying against God’s will when we pray for people to not go through something. Perhaps God put them in the situation for a reason. god has truly become my Anchor in the middle of this storm.
by Josh Monda | Oct 6, 2008 | Uncategorized
Well after taking a long break from posting anything on my site I am here to post. Some people may have thought I was dead which I am sure would make some happy. However where I am only has a dial up connection. To try to post on dial up is near torture, I am with some family in Michigan and they have wifi so now I am posting. This may be a long one so hold on.
Recently I was thinking about some things that I was missing. During that time I decided to change my thoughts to what I will not miss. Trust me there are a lot of things that I will miss in PA. I am extremely thankful for the lives I had the privilege to be a part of in PA and those that God allowed me to mold. However there is much I will not miss. This is not an extensive list just some things that relate to me personally these things may not be for everyone this is based on my experience. If you have a fear this will make you mad then please do not read it. These are my open and honest opinions.
Gossip This is first thing I will not miss. In my 9 years in PA I don’t think I heard so much gossip in my life. I am sad to say it got to the point where I was not just hearing it I was participating in it. I think when you step back or step away and you begin to look at things from the outside the picture gets alot more clearer which has definitely happened to me over these past months. So many times I would confront people on gossip and I became the bad guy for doing so. Everyone needed to know everyone else’s business and why they were doing what they were doing even after people left our church people would still keep right on spreading their gossip. By the way the number one thing I would hear is “well it’s true” just because something is true does not mean it has to be said. When we say things that we know are going to hurt someone else or cause someone to look negatively on someone else that is gossip period. We cant explain it away and not matter how much we try to justify it it’s wrong.
Drama I don’t mean just drama in teens but drama everywhere. Everywhere I turned it was drama. If it wasn’t the teen being all dramatic about something it was an adult stretching something or making something way more dramatic then needed to be. I will save you the many many stories I could share where I experienced this firsthand. The need to be dramatic about everything stems from pride. We want the attention placed on us and when we don’t get it we become dramatic to get it. If you want to test this out quit paying attention to someone and see if they get dramatic to get your attention back. I will not miss this.
Elders Meetings I definitely will not miss these. Sometimes our meetings would go for hours and at then end of the meeting I felt little was accomplished many nights. When I would address this or say something about this it was merely pushed to the side. Or I really did not know what I was talking about. Never-mind I was the secretary taking the minutes. Meetings filled with stories and little accomplished are pretty close to useless. Some meetings were better than others and in some much was accomplished. I just had no idea what the point was sometimes and why we could not keep our meeting on track. I guess I don’t understand why we would need to spend literally hours talking, discussing and going back and forth on whether or not to have a drum in our church. Trust me this was not the only issue meeting filled without doing kingdom purpose is not what and Elder Board is for. But that may be another blog post.
No Vision For 9 years I fought for a vision statement. It was brought up time and time again yet when I resigned there was still no vision statement and no plan in place to make one. Ministries had no goal to work for. What was our church trying to accomplish why did we exist. Sadly If that questions was asked we would get many different answers. I know because the question was asked. Why is this? It is because we had nothing to work for. When you have different ministries pulling in many different directions how can you be successful and healthy? Why was this continually and constantly put off? It is the job of the leadership of the church to cast vision and give some direction but failure to do either seemed to be the motto.
No Accountability It is difficult to get far without accountability. One of the first things I began to push for was evaluations. There were never any evaluations and the pastoral staff is not held accountable. We did not even hold one another accountable as pastors. Without accountability it is like you have your own secret life that no one really knows about. I think this is often the case with Pastors no one really knows them and few really know their struggles. Because we typically build a wall around us and don’t let people inside. If the Pastors are not held accountable then how can they lead.
Joking one thing I have constantly struggled with is my joking. I tend to turn just about everything into a joke and there are times that my joking has hurt others or that I have taken it to far. After leaving I have realized also how often sometimes we would sit around as pastors and take pot shots at people or say things that we thought were funny about someone else. Whether it was making fun of the way someone acted or just how they said something it was not right. Or even at times in elders meeting where we would say something funny about someone and everyone would laugh. There are times that the things we said we know we would not say if that person was sitting their in front of us yet we said them anyway. I have looked back on this and realized how wrong this was. I am ashamed that I participated in this and that I was a part of it. I don’t think Jesus would make fun of other peoples deficiencies or light of their problems and then laugh them off. Yet we did it more than once.
Lack of Follow-up Many people had left our church and in essence nothing was done to follow up on them. We did not see why they left though we knew the reason or at many time we thought we did many told me why they left but nothing was ever done to adjust ourselves. I don’t think we need to run to people and beg them to stay but shouldn’t we at least figure out why they have left and do something about it. Many times we would just blame it on the person that left and say it was their fault for leaving and never really address the fact that maybe just maybe we were doing something wrong. Sometimes maybe we were just afraid to hear the truth and to do something about it. When people are leaving there is a reason.
Backstabbing or being thrown under a bus I will close with this one. I recently heard a message about the disciples being thrown under a bus because they could not heal this guys son. So the guy openly accused them but Jesus did not side with the guy. I cant tell you how many times I have felt stabbed in the back or thrown under a bus. Not just from friends but from others as well. I found people to be generally rude where I was at in PA and for the most part self seeking. If they did not like how you did something they gathered others to side with them and would make attempts to take you down. This happened time and time again over my 9 years in PA. People would say one thing to your face but the minute your back was turned look out. I put a great deal of trust in people and that trust was definitely decimated and destroyed. I know what it is like to be thrown under that bus and to take it on the chin. To have half truths be shared about you, and downright lies. From here you just go on.
Well that is a list of some of thing I will not miss. I could have wrote alot more. I am sure this is me somehow shifting blame or something like that. However this is me sharing what I have gone through and what has been revealed to me.
