Tag: Future

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Embrace Your Moment

Not every season unfolds the way we might want it to. If we could choreograph our life there would be little pain, struggle, or difficulties. If we plotted our own lives, we would make sure that it was void of loneliness, fear, and failure. After 35 years in ministry, 15 in higher education and 20 as a pastor, I’m in transition, a new chapter of life. Gone are the deadlines, daily duties, and weekly messages. The new season is requiring that I learn how to rest and relax, take care of a grandson, and spend time exploring what my future might look like. To be honest, I’m not enjoying it. The rest and relaxation feels lazy and exploring the future is like looking for a needle in a haystack. As of now, I’ve decided to embrace my time with my grandson, Carter. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do realize that he has a lot more time in the future than I do. So, while it may not seem like the greatest challenge, I’m embracing my time with him with passion. While I might prefer to be writing sermons, it could be more important that I’m reading stories with inflection, sound effects, and silliness to a little boy. Truthfully, I’d rather be preparing for a new study series, but instead I find myself setting at a keyboard teaching Carter to play Mary had a Little Lamb and let him bang keys at every octave. I could go on, but you get the point. Why am I embracing the season with vigor? Two reasons. First, it’s what God has put in front of me, and I’ve always lived with the principle that whatever God gives me to do, I’ll do it with passion and excellence. Second, I embrace the moment because God knows better than I. Investing in Carter may be more important than I realize, I may be developing the next great author, speaker, or musician. Too many miss great opportunities because they view them as too small, but God said, “he who is faithful with the small things will be faithful with much.” It is important we realize that our lives are filled with ebb and flow, not every moment will be in the spotlight, nor will every moment be in the dark, it takes both to have a full life. Moses’ experienced three seasons in his life. The first was exciting and full of possibility, the last was filled with incredible successes. Moses’ most important moment was the middle season, the one that felt like failure, futility, and was filled with loneliness. It was there, in the desert, where Moses learned how to navigate the land, survive the wilderness, and manage people. Though he likely detested the season, he embraced it, and experienced a burning bush and received his ultimate calling. Difficult seasons often feel pointless and wasteful, and walking through them, we don’t view them as critically important to our lives. What are you walking through? While it may be overwhelming, painful, or confusing, it may be the very season that jettisons you into an inconceivable opportunity. Embrace the moment!

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Simply Blessed Beyond Belief

As Mary and I close out the chapter as Pastors at Life Connections and enter into the next phase in our lives I felt it necessary for those we call friends to hear my heart and voice. Here are my thoughts as close a beautiful chapter and enter an exciting next phase of our lives. As you read, I simply want you to see the blessing of God that has been on our lives and invite you to take inventory of yours and see how blessed you are. Sometimes seeing blessings is just a matter of perspective.

1. Blessed to have Godly parents. Mom and dad, Milford and Alice Hudson, set the foundation that everything my life is built on. Julie Hudson Robinson, my amazing sister, and I owe everything we are to them.

2. Blessed to grow up and now live in Noblesville, Indiana. If you’ve ever wanted to live or go to Mayberry, you’ve got to come to Noblesville. It’s where I learned the value of common sense and how to live just being myself.

3. Blessed to set under amazing pastors. Pastor Nathaniel Urshan taught me how to minister with balance, pastor James Larson taught me to pray and then pray some more, pastor T.L. Craft taught me endurance, and pastor Paul Mooney taught me how to laugh and be creative.

4. Blessed to go to Jackson College of Ministries where I was impacted by Darrell Johns and Ron Cooper. It’s here I met my lifelong and best friend Robert Tisdale.

5. Blessed when Mary Odum Hudson kicked her shoes off in the Indy Hyatt and introduced herself to me. It would be the beginning of the greatest privilege in my life, to be her husband. To share life and more incredibly good times and laughter than a person could imagine is my greatest honor.

6. Blessed to have two amazing children, Gentry Hudson and Risa Hudson Fontaine and now a son in law Jake, and a grandchild, Carter. Gentry and Risa are not gold, they are the highest class diamonds, they have such incredible depth as Christians and are two of the finest people I know. Keep the truth and principles we have lived before you and taught you. Your future is bright!

7. Blessed to teach over 2000 students at Indiana Bible College. This will always be something we will point to as highlight of our ministry. To be trusted as a young couple to impact students in a powerful way, to see moves of God in their lives in my classes, and then watch as they grow into incredible ministers is one of my greatest treasures. You will always be family, not just students.

8. Blessed to start Life Connections, a Spirit filled and led church that didn’t have all the walls of religion and didn’t shun hurting people who loved God. We didn’t require all the religious entanglements, but we did teach the gospel, the power of prayer, and the value of being authentic. It has been an incredible journey. We’ve had over 2000 people pass through our doors in our 20 years. Life Connections was always a hospital. Many people came hurt, were healed, and then moved on to do greater things. To those who have stayed, I would say I got to pastor some of the most amazing people in the world, it is a privilege, not only to be your pastor, but be your friend. Thank you for sharing your lives with us.

9. Blessed to go through some incredibly difficult and dark times. We’ve faced personal attacks, attacks on our character and integrity, cancer, diabetes, sickness, and emotional darkness and stood strong and came through without bitterness by the grace of God. Without these challenges we would not have been able to minister to people with faith, grace, mercy, and unconditional love. As Paul said, we glory in our weakness and infirmities, they made us who we are.

10. Blessed to see Life Connections transition to Pastor’s Phil and Annie Daigle. We see an amazing and incredible future for you all. Stay on your knees in prayer, build altars, keep the faith and truth, and stay authentic, there is no ceiling on the future if you do. We’re blessed to call you all our pastors.

11. Finally. We are blessed as we step into the future. While we don’t know where it leads or what it looks like, because of the blessings you just read about over the last 30 years, we are certain that it will be blessed and favored. Our life and ministry has not been built on titles, positions, or positioning, but on being humble and willing servants and seeing the Kingdom advance regardless of the struggle, pain, and hurt. We know we have purpose and we know some of our greatest adventures lie ahead. We love you all and look forward to sharing the future together.

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Closing a Chapter and Starting a New

For nearly 20 years as Pastor of Life and 35 years of ministry, Mary and I have built our life and preaching on four basic principles. These are based in the Word of God and are the foundations of our faith and belief. As we close our chapter here at Life, we remind you of them and encourage you to never let anyone move you away from them.

There is One God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 – Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]!

  • God has many dimensions, but He is one.
  • God is multifaceted and multidimensional, but one.

The Word of God is Above All.

Luke 21:33 – Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

  • Make God’s Word priority above all and let it lead you through life.
  • Do not be swayed by books, men’s concepts, or religion. Stay in God’s Word
  • Read the Bible with prayer.

These two ideas are summed in John 1:1 where John says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Prayer must be a Life Priority.

Matthew 21:13 – It is written [in Scripture], ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer.

  • Pray first in every situation knowing prayer can change any situation.
  • Prayer will guide, protect, and keep you when confusion comes.

Water & Spirit Baptism is Essential.

John 3:5 – Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God.

  • These are the words of Jesus, put them above every man and religion.
  • Believing, faith, and obedience is critical, but never leave this foundational statement of Jesus.
  • Acts time frame is from 30 to 70 and every epistle, which were written to churches and saints, were written between 30 to 70. We find clarity and growth in the epistles. There is one message and experience in Acts. Baptism in the name of Jesus and baptism in the Spirit with a language unknown.

As this chapter of our life closes, Mary and I want to thank everyone who has ever been a part of Life and allowed us to be your pastor. It has been an amazing journey and incredibly fulfilling to see so many lives impacted by the gospel. I will continue this weekly blog online and we look forward to what God has in the future for Mary and I. May God’s blessings and favor rest on each of you. Reach one more for Jesus!

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Remember to Remember

Remembering and protecting the past is an important aspect of securing the future. If a society doesn’t protect where it’s come from and pass down what they’ve experienced, it can quickly lose its values and its way. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the current climate in our country. History and history books are being rewritten, historical landmarks destroyed and cancel culture is taking America down a dangerous and destructive road. America is not the first culture to lose its way. Joshua 4 describes a moment after Israel had just experienced the miraculous. God had parted the Jordan River and Israel had miraculously crossed into the Promised Land. After the crossing, Joshua does something interesting. He instructs the leaders to go back into the riverbed and gather the largest stones for a memorial. The memorial was to serve as a reminder to future generations who wouldn’t remember or didn’t experience God’s miraculous work. Unfortunately, it’s just a generation or two later that a tragic epithet is written of Israel, “there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.” A once feared and powerful nation became a cesspool of immorality and political correctness, that plunged into despair and misery. What happened? How did their society change so quickly? It wasn’t a powerful adversary or tragic event, it simply happened when a people forgot God, His house and His principles. They became consumed with success, status and social acceptance and in the process forgot to protect and teach about their past. The miraculous, memorial and memories all disappeared like a vapor. Memorial Day is more than the Indy 500 and the unofficial start of summer. It’s a reminder to remember. Remember our foundations and our past. Remember the fight and those who fought. Remember God and our values. It’s remembering to protect the future.

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Because Storms Come

What do we do when there is a forecast of an impending snowstorm? We head to the grocery store. We load up on bread, milk, eggs and other essentials. We top off the car with fuel, head home with a trunk full of groceries, prepared for the storm. Wake up to a forecast that says rain and we grab a jacket and an umbrella. Being prepared is vital to surviving a storm, whether rain, snow or the storms of life. Why fast? Because storms are coming. It’s not a maybe or possibility, it’s not the question of if, but when will the storms hit. This year there will be unexpected job losses, sickness, emotional hurt, life disappointments and difficulties we don’t anticipate. Knowing storms are in the future, what do we do? We prepare. We pray. We fast. We make our relationship with God a priority. That’s how we prepare spiritually. Jesus went into the wilderness, full of the Spirit, but comes out in the power of the Spirit. What happened in the wilderness? He was tempted. He fasted. He came out ready for all the challenges lie ahead. Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, but before he ever preached a message, God sent him to an Arabian desert. What happened in the desert? He prayed and fasted. He was being prepared for the impending storms; shipwrecks, stonings, beatings, persecution and jail, all storms that lay in front of Paul. How did he survive? Spiritual preparation. What does 2021 hold? God only knows, but one thing I do know, there will be storms. Are you preparing? How we prepare today will determine how we handle the storms and if we will survive. Fast today because storms are coming.

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Now What?

Now what? Today the presents have been opened and life returns to normal. It’s back to nine to five and real life. So it was after Jesus’ miraculous birth. It’s been days, weeks or months since the glorious entrance of God in flesh, Jesus, into the world. The shepherds have visited the stable. Mary and Joseph have taken Jesus to the temple where they are met with unexpected prophecies about Jesus’ future by Simeon and Anna. The Magi have traveled from a far with gifts and visited his home. But now what? I would love to say the shepherds became evangelist, spreading the good news and the Magi became the first missionaries, establishing great works as they head back East. But only heaven and time will tell. Life, for all we know, went back to normal. The only thing we know is that Jesus grew. We get a glimpse of his growth when they visit the temple when Jesus is twelve. Mary and Joseph go to a Feast in Jerusalem, and after the celebration, begin the journey home when they realize they had left him behind. Upon returning, they find him in the Temple mesmerizing the teachers of the scripture. Beyond that, nothing. Silence. Stillness. The gift went dormant. What do we do when God goes silent? When the seed has been planted but we have to wait. We do what Mary did. Luke 2:51 says, Mary treasured all these things in her heart. When God goes silent and life goes back to normal, treasure what you have experienced and what you know is coming. While we don’t know when the promise will come, we know it will…so, with no other choice we wait, knowing better and more magnificent days are ahead!