By Josh Weidmann on Monday, October 29, 2007 8:11 AM

I’ve heard it said that the accountants and merchants of ancient times would write in the front of their accounting ledgers “Memento Mori,” meaning “Think of Death.” I would assume they placed this statement on the first page of their books as a consistent reminded of how fleeting life is and all that is within it.

I’ve been studying heaven for the sermon at The Gathering this week, and it has been one of the greatest studies I’ve ever indulged in. Though I’ve been through many different Bible courses and theology classes, I’ve never really studied Heaven. I’ve also grown up in the church, but I am not sure I’ve ever heard an entire sermon on Heaven.

This is somewhat foolish.

If you think about it, when we go somewhere it is natural for us to want to know as much as we can about that place before we arrive. For example, I will be leaving for India in just a little over a week. I’ve studied, talked with people, read books, and watched videos about this place I am going. Why then if we do this with earthly destinations do we not do it with Heavenly ones? If we are all headed for death (which we all are) and if we have given our faith to Christ and are planning on spending eternity with Him, why then don’t we study more about the place we are going!?

It is right for us to “Memento Mori” to keep a right perspective on life (The book of Ecclesiastes is pretty clear on this point). But we must not JUST think of death. We must also ponder the eternal place we are propelling towards. Think of the encouragement that will come if we take the time to meditate on the eternal goal of being with God forever.

Psalm 39:4, “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!”

 

By Josh Weidmann on Saturday, October 27, 2007 6:19 PM

It is a foolish thing to trust someone.

When you say you are going to ‘Trust someone” with something, then you are saying that you are going to take something that is important to you and give it to them (at least for a period of time). Why would you do that? Why would anyone believe in someone else’s ability to be good, loyal and unselfish for even a moment’s time? Are we naive to the fact that a person – any person – has the ability to take from us and keep for themselves?

I would consider myself a pretty trusting person. I can sit by strangers in the subway or on an airplane and not think a thing of them. I don’t question their morality. I don’t cautiously move around them as if they could hurt me at any moment. I just live a parallel life to their trusting that they will respect me as much as I am respecting them.

Am I wrong to not be more cautious? Shouldn’t I be leery of every stranger that comes within a 10 foot circle of me? I don’t know them – they could snap and take from me anything from my wallet to my life. Why do I trust the Starbucks girl to not take my credit card number at the drive thru window and after her shift go on a world wide web shopping spree? Why would I get in a yellow car with a perfect stranger and ask them to take me somewhere believing that they would actually do it? Why would I trust someone to prepare a meal for me in a kitchen I cannot see?

Trust.

Why do I give a lover my heart and trust she will respect it? Why do I trust my family to care for me when I can’t care for myself? Why do I divulge secrets to close friends trusting that they won’t use the information against me? Why do I give God my soul and trust him with my eternity?

Trust.

Trust is believing in someone enough to give them your most valuable possessions – tangible and intangible.

Do I trust God this much? Do I believe in him enough to give him my most valuable possession, my soul? I’d like to think so, but I am left to question this then practically; do I trust God with my security, satisfaction and salvation?

Trusting God with my security

I’ve spent countless hours in my life striving to create a sense of security in my life. Down to how I care for my body, to how padded my bank account is – I’ve worked hard to find stability in earthly things. There is a necessity to do this, but it is the motive with which it is done that we must be careful of. If I am doing things in my life for the purpose of having a more secure self-esteem I am failing with trusting God to provide me security.

If I really think about it, I trust God to provide for me better than I trust myself. If that is so, then why do I live so opposite?

Moses had to trust God with his security. God spoke to Him out of a burning bush asking him to march back into the last where he disappeared from and “steel” a bunch of the slaved away. Bold? Yes. Down right terrifying? Absolutely.  Yet he looked to the great “I AM” to stand behind him as he stood before Pharoh. Talk about trusting God with your security.

Trusting God with my Satisfaction

Sin is what we do when God is not enough for us. As a bunch of sin-hungry-little-pervs we go off and grab our sin and indulging in it as if there is nothing God could ever do to bring us that much satisfaction.

Do I really believe that God can’t suffice for me?

Trusting God with my satisfaction believes that God can meet my every need and desire. Yes, there are things that God has planted in me to desire and some of those thing are the same things He’s told me not to have yet (like sex) or have too much of (like food and money).

I must come to the place where I live God more than I love my sin. The habitual sin in my life has to stand up to the great God. When it measures up short (because it always will) then I must realize this and banish sin from my life. If I truly want more of God then I must desire less of sin.

Trusting God with my Salvation

When I was four I gave my life to Christ. Why then have I lived so many days since then as if I am not saved? Do I not believe it worked? Why has hypocrisy laced my life as long as I’ve lived?

Perhaps I have a small view of Christ and what He did for me. As David begged God; I must return to the joy of my salvation.

It may be foolish to trust someone, but it is not foolish to trust the One.

By Josh Weidmann on Thursday, October 25, 2007 6:15 PM

I hate that one of the main characteristics of my life – if not the main one – is that I am so busy. If you ask anyone that calls me “Friend” or even “Acquaintance” why a they would say about my life, they first thing 9 out of 10 of them would say is that ‘he is so busy.’

How dreadful is it that when I am talking to someone and they ask that some-what shallow question “How’s life?” they get a shallow but oh-so-true answer of, “Well, I’m keeping busy.”

Why is it that we often talk about being “Busy” as if it is an admirable thing? Are we really gloating in the fact that we sleep 4 hour a night, eat one meal a day, are gaining weight like a doughnut getting injected with jelly because we are so stressed. Is any of that really something to boast about?

So many times people tell each other – Man, I’ve been good but sure busy lately – and then wait for the response of admiration from other person. “Oh, how do you do it all” we want them to ask, as if our statement of busyness earns us some right to post a big “S” on our chests.

Telling someone that we are busy should be something that brings shame. Saying that we have packed our schedules full should be as embarrassing as sharing that we are constipated. Why? Because “Busy” is not something the Lord admires, so we shouldn’t either.

Search the scriptures for yourself. Try and find any passage that alludes to the fact that God desires His people to be busy. You will find none. In fact, you will find other passages that tell us to live lives exactly opposite of the busy ones we so often boast of.

It seems that in the last few weeks I’ve told more people that “I’m so busy” than ever before. It was not that I was boasting in it (this time), but that I had grown accustom with a life of chaos. I would catch myself explaining life, or “What I’ve been up to” and it seemed that all I was really painting the picture of was a man who’s life was a wreck because he was too busy.

It is time to change.

I’ve tried changing this before by cutting things, ending projects, saying NO here and there, but all this has only brought temporary relief. Unhurrying our lives has to happen in more ways then just skirting around the symptoms of a deeper issue. Here are a few things I am going to do to gain composure with my schedule:

1. Start my days in solitude. Jesus did this, and so should I. In the morning I will wake and spend sometime reading God’s Word, praying and journaling. If I have a really busy day or an early morning scheduled, I will just get up earlier to ensure that I don’t miss this.
2. Reconnect with those I love. Like a person with a drug addiction hurts those they love (and that love them) so busyness also has a way of hurting people. I will strive to make margin in my life so that relationships that are important to me can flourish there.
3. Put my priorities first in my days, weeks and months. I will put what it is most important to me first in my days, weeks and months. This will ensure that I am not controlled by the urgent things.
4. Say “no” to everything until I am caught up. Why add to what is already broken? For a season, I will say no to any new commitments, projects and visions so that I can finish what I’ve already started.
5. Get more sleep. A final way that I will regain my composure in life is by getting more sleep. I truly believe, when I am lacking in rest and I am more apt to sin. I will do everything within my control to get the amount of sleep I need to be at my “A” game all the time.

The man that picked me up from the airport today commented on my life and how busy I must be. He then proceeded to say something that was rather profound: “There is no such thing as balance.” I think he is right. Life comes in extremes; there is snow and there is sun; there are smiles and there are tears; life comes in extremes.

I will live life within the extremes sheltered in the quite place of God’s palm.

 

By Josh Weidmann on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:14 PM

I think if I was really honest, there are times that I want to stand up and say to the preacher, “Hey! Tell me something I don’t want to hear!”

Sometimes I just want to be rebuked and hit in the gut with truth. Do you know what I mean?

There are just those times where you want a friend, a parent or a preacher to just say it and say it hard. Tell me the truth I’ve been avoiding, because maybe if you say it out loud, I’ll actually do something about it this time.

They other day I was talking to a friend and he just said some things that I really didn’t want to hear. But I remember thinking even as he was speaking, how good it felt to hear someone finally telling me the way it is.

This employs that old adage, “It hurts so good.” Sometimes really good preaching does hurt so good. The problem with too many preachers these days (myself included) is that we don’t want to hurt anyone so we just say it lightly.

Forget that. No more tip-toeing. I am going to tromp around with the authority God wants me to preach with. If offend someone in the process of speaking truth bultly, I will pray that God will help it hurt good enough to change that soul forever.

Here’s to boldly preaching God’s Word without apology.

By Josh Weidmann on Sunday, October 21, 2007 6:10 PM

The last two days I’ve been with my close friend Mike Yankoski in the great country of Canada. I was able to speak at an event called The Change Conference. My time there was such a great blessing. I swear, the Canadian people are some of the greatest blessings in the face of the planet.

One of the highlights of my trip was being able to have so many teens talk to me about their passion to start something for Christ on their campus. There were dozens of students that wanted to get their hands on a book called “Mustard Seed” I mentioned in my afternoon session. It is a book that a friend of mine, Darian Kovacs, wrote about how to start a prayer ministry on your campus. He is the founder of a ministry called “Canada Fire.” It was so great to be able to refer so many passionate students to his book and his great ministry.

Finally, it was also great to be with Mike. He is a friend of mine from High School and it was always our dream to do ministry together someway, somehow, someday. In a small way (and hopefully the start of something bigger) we had the change to encourage souls together. What a blessing.

Canada will always be a special place to me.