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Living Life To Tell It As A Funny Story Later
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30th
SEP
Learning the Ropes… Very, Very Quickly
Posted by Josh Boldman | Filed under Church, Life
So, it’s been just about forever and a day since I last posted. For that I am experiencing intense inner strife and anguish (actually, I’m only a little upset). In order to right this unforgivable wrong, let me give you all an update as to the happenings of the past few months…
As most of you know, the family and I packed up a truck and moved just about 1,000 miles away from Orlando (a place where I’ve lived for 5-6 years, but where Rachel basically grew up). Though the transition hasn’t been easy, it has been eventful. After packing up our tiny 2-bedroom apartment into a moving truck (that was unfotunately slightly more tiny), I drove to Missouri with the help of two of the guys from our new church. As far as the drive itself, I’ll spare you the details. Just imagine driving 1,000+ miles in 22 hours with no sleep and just a little bit too much caffeine. Now imagine that after a full day of loading up a truck from a 2nd-story apartment… yeah, you get the idea.
Upon arrival in Granby, Missouri, I have assumed the position of Senior Pastor at Granby First Church of God, which, in my estimation of things, so far has been a pretty cool thing. This has been something that I’ve been working toward for at least the past 6 years, so it’s pretty cool to see it all come into reality. Now, before I get too far ahead of myself, just because it’s been “cool to see” does not mean that it’s been easy. This week has been a particularly sobering dose of the realities of my position. It all started on Saturday…
Rachel and I had taken Zeke to a local pumpkin patch for him to see pumpkins growing on the vine (which is actually pretty cool, except he just kept pointing at them and saying the word “Ball” … he is 17 months old, after all), when I got a phone call from the local funeral home letting me know that a longtime member of the congregation had passed away. The only problem was that she had been home-ridden for years due to her inability to drive, which meant that I had no idea who she was. All I knew was that I had a funeral to perform on Tuesday… my first funeral… for someone I had never met.
Since I probably mentioned to you that our truck was a tad too small, we had to leave a few things behind in Apopka. One of those things was (accidentally) a hamper basket that still had my dress shirt and pants in it that I had specifically bought for the last funeral that I attended (FYI, I’m really not a shirt & tie kind of guy). Any way, that meant that on Monday, I had to travel to the big city to replace my estranged Sunday best (that I would never wear on Sunday). Since it’s actually a really decent drive, I figured I’d make the best of my time there and have lunch with one of our church members that lives out that way. Lunch was great, and Bob is an incredibly encouraging person. The day was actually turning out to be a great day.
I’ve learned in my years that just when you think things are going well, it’s very possible that something will happen to turn that day right on its head. For me, that came in the form of a phone call asking if I could perform a wedding that very day at 3:00pm. Although I’m sure that most of us might vary on this opinion, I’m of the opinion that no two people who want to be legally married should be denied that priviledge, especially if they are young and “cannot resist their passions.” So of course, I said yes and rushed home to perform a wedding… my first wedding… for someone I had never met.
Are you noticing the same trend that I am? Well, now in hindsight, both the wedding and the funeral went off without a hitch, and it was a blessing to be able to take part in both. I believe that God is trying to show me that stretching is a good thing. At least, I hope that’s the case, because stretching is exactly what’s happening.
For me, I am learning to ask these questions of myself: “How might God be stretching you? What are the ways that He’s allowing you develop into the person He is calling you to be? How are you letting Him accomplish this?”
Perhaps these are questions from which we could all benefit asking of ourselves. Have a great day. I’m going to.
Tags: 6 years, anguish, bedroom apartment, cool thing, estimation, first church of god, granby missouri, little bit, longtime member, moving truck, phone call, pumpkin patch, realities, sleep, story apartment, strife, transition, vine
13th
DEC
Unsuspecting youth…
Posted by Josh Boldman | Filed under Life, Thoughts, Westside
Ok, so let me start off with some background information. For those of you who do not know, I am currently serving as the youth pastor at a church in Apopka, FL, a job that I take very seriously. It is no small responsibility to take charge of the spiritual, moral, and emotional growth of 4 or 5 dozen high school and middle school students. These guys and gals are very impressionable and, especially in the case of middle schoolers, tend to trust those who are in authority (they don’t tend to get that rebellious streak until about 10th grade). So, for me, that means that more often than not, they are going to trust what my staff and I teach them.
At first glance, that’s actually a pretty cool thing. People look up to us. They want to know what we think, and often they take what information we give and the take it to heart. But a big problem in this scenario is that young minds don’t necessarily always have the capacity to discern authority. Here’s an example:
When I was in early high school, I had a teacher that claimed he wanted to help us “expand our minds.” Now to him, this meant he was introducing us to philosophy and ideas that we hadn’t considered before. The only problem was that these new philosophies and ideas contradicted some of our already held beliefs. His answer to this problem was that we should “suspend” our current beliefs to make room for these new ideas and that it would all flesh out in the end. Since he was a teacher and had authority, many of the students began to follow this teacher blindly, assuming that since he was a teacher, he knew what he was doing. It felt like a scene in Dead Poets Society, right up to the point that one of the students in our class attempted suicide.
Now, on to the reason for my post:
What is the deal with people who abuse authority, especially authority over impressionable youths? Recently, my wife and I took a group of students to a conference that our church participates in annually. Usually it’s pretty good with a very grounded and effective speaker. This year was not the norm. After much consideration, I won’t share the man’s name, though he is apparently on a national speaking tour. Here’s what happened:
At no point did the man teach on any subject that the conference was dealing with. The theme of the conference was iLife, with the key verse of John 10:10, which reads:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
The only thing that the speaker did was promise the kids that as long as they believe (not necessarily in God, but just believe) then they will be successful in life. He then proved it by talking about what kind of car he drove and that he has his own airplane.
Seriously? Ouch. And, trust me, that’s not all. There’s way too much more to go into here.
Luckily, I have a great group of kids that each thought that the speaker was a tad bit suspect, so we were able to have a great discussion about it before the trip was over. It was a wonderful opportunity to encourage them to put 1 Thessalonians 5:21 in to practice. It reads:
“Test everything, hold on to the good.”
I am grateful that my students were able to see that something was wrong with the situation we were in, but I am infuriated with the fact that this person decided to abuse the authority that he was given over a 700 or so high school and middle school students. I guess it’s times like these that remind me of the responsibility that I, and others in my position find ourselves in.
Tags: 10th grade, apopka fl, background information, cool thing, dead poets society, emotional growth, first glance, flesh, gals, heart, impressionable youths, job, middle school students, philosophies, philosophy, rebellious streak, suicide, youth pastor
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