By jimwideman on
7/27/2009 12:57 AM
I love tennis! I love to play it, and I love to watch it. I always think I can serve until I watch the pros. It seems like it's not hard to win when they are serving. The same thing is true in our ministries.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
7/26/2009 12:37 AM
The year was 1973; I was minding my own business selling drugs to my high school when I heard eight little words that rocked my world. "God has a wonderful plan for your life!" Those words rocked my world and led me to a relationship with Jesus and started the journey of a lifetime. Those eight words still rock my world today.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
7/23/2009 6:13 AM
When I was a senior in college my pastor at the time came to me and told me he needed some help. He told me he wasn't offering me a job he was offering me an opportunity.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
7/17/2009 7:28 PM
I like Joe Walsh's music! I always have. One of my favorite lines in one of my favorite songs "Life's Been Good To Me So Far" is "I can't complain but sometimes I still do! Why do we do this? I was on an American Airlines plane once and as we were leaving the gate an alert employee discovered something was broke and needed fixing. They brought us back, unloaded us and all the stuff, sent us to another plane in another terminal and then sent us to Nashville putting me 4 to 5 hours late. Here's what I know...
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
7/4/2009 6:45 AM
I am a believer in having a plan for your time when you are working. It changed my life when I started acting like "my time" really belonged to me. I also think it's not only important to make the days we work count but I also think it's important to have a plan for what you want to accomplish on the days you're off. Why not show your family that they are as just as much a priority as what "you do" in ministry? I've been putting on an infuse retreat the last few days and today my priority will be letting my wife know she is important to me and I love being her husband more than being successful. We give our best to our jobs when we're at work, so giving our best to our families when we're off should also be a way of life. Give your off times focus and you'll be as fruitfill when you're off as much as at the office.
...Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans!
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
6/28/2009 10:49 PM
Today is a great day, not because my new blog and website went live but because I choose for today to be a great day. You can choose to think positively no matter your situation or circumstance.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
6/13/2009 4:12 AM
02. Set a goal and don’t stop until you hit it. Then when you hit your goal then set another goal. If you want to have power to last learn to think in steps. Make a plan based on those steps and goals and then walk in out. Don’t seek a quick fix, don’t take leaps, jumps or shortcuts. Follow the Lord’s leading and His timetable.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
5/26/2009 1:37 PM
07. Guard your heart! Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” My mother told me years ago, “Grow tough skin but keep a tender heart! How do I do this? I stay away from complainers and negative people. Never let bitterness set in. Examine your thoughts with the Word. Wrong thinking causes strongholds to develop. Never compare yourself to others. In John 21:18-22, John writes “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."
Weary in well doing and burned out don’t come from too much serving, they both come when you stop following Jesus and you don’t guard your heart.
Read More »
|
By jimwideman on
5/21/2009 12:00 AM
Not everyone who starts something for God completes his or her assignment.
I know as many people who used to work with kids than people who have always worked with kids. What happened? The reasons and excuses are limitless.
There have been times through the years that I’ve thought about making a vocational change. But I haven’t. It’s one thing to think about it, it’s another thing to act on it.
Did you know even people in the Bible had thoughts like these? Look at Jeremiah 9:2, “Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.”
Do you hear what Jeremiah is saying? Oh to run a Holiday Inn in the middle of nowhere so folks will check in and check out and I want have to deal with them on an ongoing basis. Discouragement not only comes at Children’s Pastors it also comes at your workers. I hear it every week! I need a break. I would like to take a short leave of absence. (Leave of absence is code for I quit!) God is leading me to another ministry or to another church and last but not least I they say the “B” word. I am burnout!
Burnout is not a part of God’s plan. Nobody starts out intending to burnout.
Somewhere along the journey people forget about the beginning. They loose their excitement, their hope; they let go of their dreams and loose sight of God’s vision for their life. How do you keep the new from wearing out on a ministry? Do what the Word says, keep yourself stirred up. 2 Timothy 1:6 says “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” How do I do this Jim? I’m so glad you asked. Over the next few days I'll be adding my top ten list to have power to last over the long haul in children’s ministry.
Read More »
|