by Josh Monda | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
Over the course of the last few months I have felt God directing me to look at becoming a Sr. Pastor of a church. However I know the Pastor Search is a difficult one. Trust me this was never in my though process and I never had any desire to ever become a Sr. Pastor. However I also can’t deny when God appears to be working in my life. After the counsel of several close friends telling me that I should at least consider the option of a Sr. Pastor I decided to jump in. I have sent my resume out to a few churches and have had some churches interested in me but they were not a good fit. If you know of a church looking for a Pastor and would like to pass along my resume you can find it here or by just clicking on Pastor Resume on the right side of this site. You may also feel free to download the resume and jut check it out to see how I have put it together. Trust me I am no expert but feel free to use my resume for a guide if you would like.
I was recently checking my stats on google and I was floored that I have had around 68 hits last month for people just searching for youth pastor resume. So I went to google and typed in youth pastor resume and was surprised to see that my site landed number 8 on the first page. Wow that is cool. Apparently there are some people looking for help with their resumes. If you ever want to talk about your resume or would like some help please feel free to send me an email. If you have any questions about ministry and would like to ask me I would love to talk with you. Well if you want to check out my youth pastor resume you can check it out here feel free to download it and check it out. Use it as a guide or whatever you want.
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.
I recently was talking with a pastor and this question was asked of me.  We had talked for quite awhile and he then stopped me and asked me so why do you still want to be a Youth Pastor.  The answer for me was actually simple.  Here was my response.  ”Because God called me to be a Youth Pastor.”Â
In my years of being a Youth Pastor I have seen many use youth ministry as a stepping stone into something bigger. Â Often times they may have what they feel is a good reason for this. Â However, does God call us to use one ministry as a mere stepping stone into another. Â Why do we seem so often to want to climb the career ladder in church? Â Always wanting to move to the bigger or “better” church. Â
I must confess youth ministry is often difficult.  It is hard to juggle everything that we must do in addition in having to deal with church life.  However I believe God allows us to go through things to only make us stronger and more moldable in his hands.
by Josh Monda | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
I have debated on whether to right this or not as I know that some will take it and twist what I am about to say into something that it is not. However, right now I need some quiet from all of the noise and to do this often times I find the best outlet is writing. For me often it is preparing a Sermon.
Over the course of these last few days I have found myself asking How would Jesus respond to this? Honestly, in the aftermath of the tornado when I stepped into a neighborhood that looked like a bomb had went off I was not thinking how would Jesus respond. When I helped pull a lady and her husband from their basement as there had a wall laying on them I did not think how would Jesus respond. As I knelt down and held a woman covered in blood whose face was all cut up and as I asked her if I could pray with her I did not ask my self how would Jesus respond. As I went to one of my church embers hospital room and looked at her head cut open and her clavicle broken and as she wept because she has lost her husband and now her home, and as she said I have nothing left, forgive me for being weak pastor, I did not ask myself how would Jesus respond? I held her and cried with her. Because in those moment I believe that is how Jesus would respond.
However, I sit here with quiet for the first time in days thinking of a daughter who nearly died on Saturday, and a tornado that ripped through my town taking four of my church embers homes on Sunday and I ask myself that question, how would Jesus respond. I ask myself that question because I am the leader of my church, I ask self that question because I believe it is vital to how we respond.
We may be surprised to know that natural Jesus was actually faced with natural disaster in his time. In liked 13:1-5 we read
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5, ESV)
So when we ask ourselves how would Jesus respond we have his response above. This is how he responded to the disaster of his time.
First notice that Jesus clearly lets them know that tragedy, suffering, and sin are not necessarily linked together. This is not the first time that Jesus had to make a similar connection either see John 9:2. These people really believed the reason that Galileans were murdered by Herod was because they were great sinners. In other words it was because of their sin that brought on their suffering. Notice they did not say this but they were thinking it which is why Jesus addressed the question. From here Jesus makes the reference to another news story of the day where a tower fell on 18 people killing them. He does this to illustrate his point even further that suffering is not necessarily due to sin. If this were the case then no one would be breathing, and we would all be dead. We know this because we are all sinful, and we all would be worthy of the most horrible of sufferings, death. So for us to somehow equate any natural disaster including the tornado in Washington, Il with the sin of the people is folly.
However this does bring me to my next point which may be sometimes difficult to hear. However, notice that even though Jesus clearly seemed to let the people know that suffering, and sin are not necessarily tied to one another he was also quick to point out that sin does have its penalty. Often our question tends to be focus on why would God allow such a thing to happen to certain people when perhaps the question should be “why not me?” It is very easy during these times to somehow question God as if he really owes us an explanation however our question should really by why am I allowed to take my next breath? The answer to that question is because God is full of Mercy. Is this not what Jesus is saying when he tells them “unless you repent you will all likewise parish.” When something like a tornado passes through our town it should indeed remind us that we are all sinners, and every one of us deserves the penally that sin brings which is death.
Which brings me to the next point. We should be reminded that we all need repentance. Look at the words of Jesus. He did not try to explain why it happened, or how it happened, or who to blame he simply reminded the people of their need for repentance. The most important question that anyone could ask deals with the eternal destiny of their soul. Twice Jesus reiterates the necessity of repentance. God is desires to show us mercy and is full of grace, he forgives, and can restore us but repentance is necessary. When a tornado rips through you town and when Jesus is confronted with a natural disaster we should be reminded of our need for repentance.
Finally and I do not want anyone to miss this because often this is what we do not realize. A tornado or natural disaster like this should make us realize the necessity of spreading the gospel. Honestly this is what started me on the quest of finding out how Jesus would respond. As I look around and see people that are hurting I see a far greater need that is spiritual and my heart breaks. Right before the Tornado hit my community I shared in Sunday school that humanitarian effort without the gospel is simply humanitarian effort and does not make an eternal difference. Little did I know that within a few minutes of making that statement a tornado would rip through my town taking out 4 of my embers homes. This tornado should make us come to the realization that people are hurting, but they are hurting spiritually far greater than they are hurting any other way. We must look around at the pain and suffering that people are going through and know that there is a far greater spiritual suffering that darkens the soul of people. This should drive us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ knowing that the alternative is perishing for eternity. How dare us sit by and do nothing when people are perishing, we must proclaim the gospel with urgency. So when a tornado is Washington Illinois occurs it should drive us to realize the necessity of sharing the gospel.
May we realize that indeed if we fail to share the gospel of Jesus Christ during this time perhaps we are missing the point and missing a great opportunity that has been laid before us. May we not just talk about the gospel but may we be gospel driven to the point that it permeates everything we do. I pray that the Lord use me to lead others to the recognition that when a Tornado hits that we should recognize the need to share the Gospel.
One of my good friends used to tell me that if he did not know me he would think I made up all of my stories. If you know me then you know I have gone through many different experiences in life. Some of which have greatly tested my faith and others that are sometimes just silly. These last few day really have not been any different.
For me it started on 11/14/2013 a Thursday night. In conversation with by 13 and soon to be 14 year old daughter, she told me she was not feeling well. This really was not out of the ordinary for her as she would get a stomach bug off and on and just sometimes say she did not feel well. So we sent her to bed and she came out later saying she had vomited. Again no big deal just seemed to be a bug. So we got her fluids and thought we would see how the next day would go. Friday morning was like any other morning my daughter said she still was not feeling well and so because I knew she was ill I just told her to stay home from School as Friday is my day off anyway and figured I could keep an eye on her. Then she changed her mind and decided to go to school which was fine as well.
Around 10AM on Friday I received a call from the school saying my daughter was ill. Again not that unusual so I had her mom go and pick her up from school and she came home and went to her room to rest. She was in her room the entire day on Friday and came out Friday night and watched some television with us and later took a bath. This lead us to believe she would be feeling much better come Saturday. Well Saturday came and she still was not doing well. She was still nauseous and throwing up so we were somewhat concerned now. As my wife went to do a job she sent me a text message and said make sure I check our daughter. SO I did and quickly found my precious girl in a state that looked like severe dehydration. I let my wife know that we needed to get her to the ER. My wife hurried home and when we went to clean her up she passed out. We then called 911. As I lay in the hallway with my daughter waiting on an ambulance those sobering words rang out that she would say to me, “Daddy I don’t want to die”. Upon arrival the EMT’s could not get any vital signs. She was awake but kept wanting to go to sleep. No blood pressure, no pulse, no nothing. They loaded her in the ambulance and off they went.
I loaded my boys and headed to the ER. They had finally got an IV in her but she was still in trouble. She had very little blood when they pricked her finger they could not get any blood. After working on her for awhile the doctor came out and said she felt that she had Toxic Shock Syndrome. We are fortunate that she is still with us. Later the doctor would tell my wife if I had not gone in when I did we may have lost her. Now I sit in the ICU with my daughter still with no real answers to the cause and only knowing that my daughter has some bacteria that they still do not have the answers for.
But the story does not end there. Because this morning right before I walked into my church for Sunday services I received a tornado watch on my phone. Then right after the introduction to my sermon the tornado warning came through I moved our congregation to the basement and the sirens sounded. I decide to step outside to look things over and sure enough the tornado was forming. The tornado passed about a quarter mile from my church taking out at least 4 of our members homes. So like I said this is one crazy ride.
Please pray for us pray for my daughter, my community, my church. Interestingly enough today’s message was entitled the prayer of faith. Here is some footage I took Washington Illinois Tornado Devastation From Washington, Illinois Torando
I have debated on whether or not to that the time to write this. Partially because being a pastor in a smaller church it seems like you are trying to promote yourself or somehow trying to force people to appreciate you as a pastor. However, let me say that right up front that is not the point of me taking the time to write this. In fact I rarely see pastors taking the time to write about this as they have fear of self promotion. With that said there are to my surprise many people who read my blog and not all of them are pastors so I thought if I could somehow help others think about this biblically it could in turn help many of my friends who are pastors. Additionally because I am from a smaller church I am certain that only a select few of my parishioners will read this, and I know that they know me well enough to realize this is not some sort of self promotion.
I primarily wanted to take some time to speak to this first of all because next month (October) is pastor appreciation month and secondly and very frankly I have seen pastors that have gone through pastor appreciation month very much unappreciated. Often I believe this stems from the fact that many churches do not really know how to appreciate their pastor and honestly many pastors do not know how to appreciate their congregation. With that said I do believe that there are those who wonder if it is even Biblical to appreciate the pastor and there are some who believe that the pastor is called to a life of poverty. I would say that with nearly 20 years of ministry I have struggled financially for the majority of those years often wondering how we would survive, and yes at times feeling guilty for being on government assistance while being a pastor. So before I get into the idea of whether or not Pastor Appreciation is Biblical first let me just quickly break down a pastors pay and perhaps some common misunderstandings in relation to it, as I believe this will help in an overall understanding.
Unfortunately when I first started ministry I really did not understand things like pastors taxes, housing allowance, etc. I also believe that the common parishioner does not understand this either. So I thought I would break at least these two thoughts down for those that may not really understand them. First, let’s look at the typical pastors taxes in the simplest way possible. I will not go into all of the variables of this but will give the common circumstances for most pastors. Often when one looks at their church budget and they notice how much the pastor is being paid their first thought may be that is a pretty decent salary. usually the problem with that thought is this. In most church budgets when the pastors salary is published is really does not show the bottom line it is really showing the before tax amount. This tends to be a problem as causes what I believe is a common misunderstanding for people in that they believe the pastor is making more than they really are. So let me show some numbers very quickly. Lets say that the pastors salary is $40,000. Well out of that $40,000 the pastor is required to pay 15.3 percent in taxes because a pastor is considered self-employed and most pastors do not pt out of social security (full time employees pay 7.65 percent). Ok let’s do the math so 40,000 x 15.3% is 6,120 now 40,000 – 6120 brings us to 33,380. This may not seem to bad as a salary but also let’s not forget that at least the pastors I know make sure that they give at least 10 percent of their income in tithe (I believe the national average is 2.5%). So let’s subtract that. So since we tithe on our before tax amount lets multiply 40,000 X 10% which equals 4,000 now subtract that from the 33,380 and we are now at 29,380.
Before I go any further I want to just quickly address housing allowance because again I think there is a misunderstanding that a housing allowance is added to the pastors salary and it is not. If a pastor claims a housing allowance of lets say 15,000 that does not mean the church is adding 15,000 to the pastors salary it really is simply a tax benefit for your pastor and that is all. So to somehow equate the housing allowance with salary is somewhat of a misnomer. Ok now that we have that out-of-the-way. The pastor is not bringing home 29,380 a year. Which is roughly 2,448 a month. So with this in mind and if we used Dave Ramsey’s budgeting guidelines this pastor should spend no more than 856 a month on total housing, 244 on utilities, 367 on groceries, I am not going to put all of the other numbers in If you want to see the worksheet go here it is the same one I use. Fill in the worksheet and it is easy to see why so many pastors struggle. I have always said if they are worried about money than their thoughts are not on ministry. If you are still with me congratulations you either really love your pastor and want to know how to appreciate them or you really want to know if pastor appreciating is Biblical.
Let me just begin with this. A Pastor that knows they are loved will serve your church far longer and in a far greater capacity than a pastor who wonders if he is loved. So let’s just answer the question and then prove the answer. Is Pastor appreciation Biblical? The answer is Yes. Let me share with you three verses from Gods word that shows us this.
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, ESV)
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17, ESV)
In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14, ESV)
If well allow these verses to soak in I think we can clearly see that we are to appreciate our pastors. I am not going to exegete these passages as they say a great deal not only to the congregations responsibility to Appreciate their pastor but they have a a lot to say about the labor of the pastor as well. However, let it be clear that scripture plainly tells us to make sure that our pastors are cared for. I have seen many a pastor struggle often times needlessly. Naturally the question comes with how can we show our pastor some appreciation? How can we show him some love?
First you can pray for him. Take time to pray for his family, for his work, for what he is trying to accomplish. You can also submit to his direction, allow him to lead you. Let me just say that the success of your church depends on you loving your pastor. He can either be encouraged or discouraged further more God commands us to take care of them, and honestly nearly every pastor I know deserves it.
Let me share some Ideas that I have found that you could use to appreciate your pastor
For Kids and Teens
Ten Gifts You Can Give Your Pastor
LIfeway Article on Pastor Appreciation
NAMB Resources for Pastor Appreciation
I wanted to take a few minutes a blog something that is just a little different from my normal time. If you have been following my blog you know that I have recently become the pastor at First Baptist Washington in Washington Illinois. As with any position I quickly began to evaluate things such as our website, our missions statement, vision statement, etc. During this process I also started the search to see if we had a logo that belonged to the church. I was not surprised when I found that we did not have one. Honestly this is fairly normal especially in a smaller church. Rarely do churches think about branding, logos, and these sorts of things. However, I do and though I am know expert I knew we should have something.
Thus enters Zillion Designs, you see at Zillion Designs you do not have to be the expert. Really all you need is an idea. Honestly that is all I had was an idea in my head that I just was not capable of getting out that I need help with. I had heard about Zillion Designs and how they use crowdsourcing to give you many different designs that you can choose from so I thought I would give it a shot. There are several things that drew me into Zillion Designs not only having multiple people working on a logs (they have over 50,000 designers) but also you get to name your own price. It does not get any better than that.
So I went in with a design idea in my head and posted a creative brief where I pretty much describe what I am looking for. After I went through the process I had my first design to look at within 24 hours and they just kept coming and coming. By the end of the week I had over 60 designs that had come in. In addition to this you can interact with those designers letting them know to change something or not to change something etc. They work hard to make sure you get exactly what you are looking for.
I would also add that the customer support for this company is superb. I never had difficulty reaching anyone and they followed up with me very promptly. I has asked for some files to be separated and within an hour they were sent to me separated this is going above and beyond what most companies will do. Not only that but they followed up with a phone call to make sure I had received everything that I had asked for and to make sure I was satisfied. These guys are second to none.
They also do more than just logos I would challenge you to check them out. Take some time to go to their site if you need a logo these guys can do it, or if you need something else, stationary, letterheads, etc. they do that as well. So go and have a look at what they have to offer at Zillion Designs. Oh yeah I almost forgot check out our logo.
Since becoming a pastor this verse has stuck out in my head. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; (1 Peter 5:2, ESV). Personally I believe there is a very good reason why this is the case. You see, since becoming a pastor it seems that anytime someone calls me or stops into my office they always apologize. I am not really sure why they apologize but this seems to be the case the majority of the time. For whatever reason they seem to think that they are an inconvenience. Honestly, this is somewhat bothersome to me on many levels.
It seems like the modern pastor has come into this mentality that their job is to advance their agenda. I am not quite sure where this comes from or at what point this began to happen. Pastors are busy writing books, perhaps preparing sermons, etc. and have little time for the people. Honestly I somewhat understand this with a Mega Church naturally a pastor can’t have time to see thousands of folks on a daily basis, but I do not understand this in smaller churches. To be clear, for me, a smaller church would be any church under 1000. Seriously, why is it that our people sometimes have to wait weeks to see there pastor or to schedule an appointment weeks in advance. Before you think this is only in Mega churches it is not. I can list churches running under 500 right now where this is the case. I often wonder what it would have been like if this is how Jesus did ministry. If he said “set up an appointment with my secretary”. Seriously, at what point did we stop shepherding and become so snobbish that we can’t have time for the people we are to be leading. Am I so arrogant to think that the only time I shepherd the flock is when I stand in the pulpit? How foolish we are to think this way.
Honestly, my mind can’t help to think of Jesus and the numerous times He is thought of as a Shepherd in scripture. I think of those times when He saw the masses and said they were like sheep without a shepherd. Yet as pastors we want to go in our office and close our door and continue to let our sheep wander. We constantly see Jesus with the people and we see this at all times of the day, morning, noon, and night. Shepherding takes place on a constant basis. Jesus did life with his disciples they hung out all of the time, and from there he did even a little more with three of them. In addition to the disciples he spent a ton of time with people, the masses were constantly pressing in on him. Yes he took time away, but why is it we constantly see Him respond to the needs of people? Because he loved them. Because He was the chief Shepherd. As pastor’s we must love our people enough to shepherd them. We must spend time with them. They should never feel guilty about coming in to see us, and we should never make it so difficult for them to see us. I want to shepherd is such a way that the people I am leading know I love them. I pray this is the case.
by Josh Monda | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
An excerpt from John Piper’s message on Sanctity of Human Life.
Russell Moore’s sermon manuscript, Joseph Is a Single-Issue Evangelical: The Father of Jesus, the Cries of the Helpless, and Change You Can Believe In, is now online. Here’s how it closes:
The question for us, then, of whether we are truly pro-life or not, has very little to do with how many signs are in our yards or what bumper stickers we put on our cars. Indeed, it may be the case that after this election the abortion debate will be over in this country politically.Â
But even if that’s the case, it’s not over. Our churches are to follow in the walk of faith, which means that–like Joseph walking away from stability and comfort–our churches must be different, they must be counter-cultural, the kind of place where the teenage mother is welcomed and loved, where abandoned children are received, and where a culture that is in love with death can come and hear a message saying that life is better than death because there is a man, an ex-corpse, a former-fetus, who is standing as the ruler over all the nations and the universe. And he is not dead anymore.Â
 What we must have is a church in which the gospel we give is the kind of gospel that leads people out of death and despair and toward the kind of life that is found in confessing a name–a name that was first spoken by human lips by a day-laborer in Nazareth, “Jesus is Lord.”
 If we follow this kind of pure and undefiled religion, it doesn’t mean we will be shrill. It doesn’t mean we will be culture-warriors. It doesn’t mean we’ll be belligerent. It will mean that we will have churches that are so strikingly different, that maybe in ten or fifteen years the most odd and counter-cultural thing a lost person may hear in your church is not, “Amen,” but is instead the sounds of babies crying in the nursery.
 And hearing the oddness of that sound, when they look around at the place in which all of the Lord Jesus’ brothers and sisters are welcomed, protected, and loved, the place in which the lies of a murderous and appetite-driven dragon are denied, the lost person might say, “What is the sound of all these cries?” And maybe we’ll be able to say with our forefather Joseph, “that’s the sound of life. That’s the sound of hope. That’s the sound of change.”
 You might even say, it’s “change you can believe in.”
You can also listen to the MP3 online.
Despite Obama’s claims last night the record is clear even from his own words watch this.
Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com
Theologian Dr. John Frame:
“…in some cultures (like the ancient Roman, in which the New Testament was written) there is not much that Christians can do, other than pray, to influence political structures and policies. But when they can influence them, they should. In modern democracies, all citizens are ‘lesser magistrates’ by virtue of the ballot box. Christians have an obligation to vote according to God’s standards. And, as they are gifted and called, they should influence others to vote in the same way.
This is not to say that political choices are always obvious. Often we must choose the lesser of two evils. Candidate Mershon may have a better view of one issue than Candidate Beates, while Beates has a better view on a different issue. It is an art to weigh the importance of different issues and to come to a godly conclusion. Each of us should have a large amount of tolerance for other Christians who come to conclusions that are different from ours. Rarely will one issue trump all others, though I must say that I will never vote for a candidate who advocates or facilitates the killing of unborn children.” [The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008). p. 617.]
Preacher/author Dr. John Piper:
“…When we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, ‘No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal.’ Subdivision 7 says, ‘No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal.’ The penalty: ‘A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.’
Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that ‘no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law.’ Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to ’maim, mutilate and kill’ a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?
These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil—even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.”
Princeton prof Dr. Robert George on 10/14/08:
“Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress…”
This was snagged from a blog I read here
I recently read this article online and wanted to share it with my readers.  I have heard many argument from Christians for reasons to vote for Obama and have not heard one yet that holds water.  One argument states we simply can not impose morality on people.  This has to be on of the most absurd things I have ever heard.  We do this very thing every day.  Secondly I have heard people say that abortion should not be an issue because the laws will not change once again how absurd.  I am sure many thought the same way over slavery.  Come one.
In this article Dr. Robert P. George dealing with the arguments that Christians are giving in favor of voting for Obama. Please read the whole article here.   Dr. George’s conclusion:
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What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama’s America is one in which being human just isn’t enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama’s America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: ”that question is above my pay grade.” It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator’s pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy – and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.Â
In the end, the efforts of Obama’s apologists to depict their man as the true pro-life candidate that Catholics and Evangelicals may and even should vote for, doesn’t even amount to a nice try. Voting for the most extreme pro-abortion political candidate in American history is not the way to save unborn babies.
by Josh Monda | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
Well tonight we had family thanksgiving with my wifes side of the family it really was some good food. In fact I had some great cranberry relish and some good potatoe stuffing. As usual I washed it down with my wife’s pecan pie. I am biased and I know it but my wife males the best pecan pie in the world. We had a lot of folks here at the ridgeway Baptist church but as I sat hear I was thinking about family and how we are all different. I am glad that my wife’s family is not the same as my family how boring would life be if we were all the same. I know for me life would be boring.
If I am really honest I use to jot want to come to these things with my wife. Deep down inside I guess I never really felt welcome but I would always cone to make my wife happy. I know how lame I am but it is the truth. Now for the most part I like to come. But I can’t help but wonder if this is how so many feel coming to our churches. Do they come in the door looking to be accepted and loved into a family but in the end they feel rejected and not part of the family at all. I think we are failing miserably in the church and when we stop making church less about our comforts.and more about loving God and loving others we will see Him move. Lets together change the atmosphere of how we do church.
So I have had alt of churches contacting me over the last weeks which has been crazy in itself. Â The reason it is crazy is because I don’t know how alot of these Churches even know about me or that I am available. Â Most of these churches are from all over the US Texas, North Carolina, and so forth. Â I have never really looked that deep into any of these positions as far as what the towns are like and so forth. Â I especially had not looked into the cost of living into any of these places. Â
Honestly I am still undecided on what I want to do or pursue. Â I really think a year off from full time ministry is probably what is best for me and my family right now as we need to heal. Â At the same time I want to be open to where the Lord may lead and doors He may open to me.
Anyway there has been one Pastor that has been in contact with me for a little bit now and has really pursued after me.  They have just built a brand new facility completed a few months ago and are currently running about 60 kids and the church has about 280.  He asked for a statement of beliefs from me and I send it out to him and we seem to have alot in common.  Though I am still unsure what the Lord may want and even though personally this sounds like it would be a perfect fit for me as far as a church and even location though I would still be far from family.
Well here is the part that scares me. Â The pastor said I want you to look at the cost of living here as housing is very expensive and that is the downside to our location. Â I was thinking well how bad could this be I mean I live in Berks County PA and housing is expensive here so I thought. Â Anyways I began to check out realtors and and soon found out that housing was through the roof. Â The cheapest house I found was for 189,000 and that was a trailer on some land. Â Ouch you talk about expensive. Â So I did some more research thinking we could probably rent and be ok. Â There was a three bedroom 2 bath trailer for rent it was only 1200 ouch again. Â Man this has totally floored me. Â After some more digging I found that the cost of living in this place was 16% above the us average. Â The good news they are one of the fastest growing counties in the US. Â
Well to some it up there is alot of potential in this church and if God calls us there He would definitely have to supply.  Please understand names, and places have been left out intentionally.
by Josh Monda | Dec 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
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
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.
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.
All I can say is wow I read the chapter online from this book and it was moving and amazing. Â I do like the way Mark rights. Â You can check it out for yourself Here
Or you can just click play below if you have high speed it should work.
