Let's Get Acquainted

Every week at my church we encourage first-time guests to take a card and fill out as much information as they are comfortable sharing with us. The reason is so that our church can follow up with them as to how their visit went, if they are new to the area, or just looking for a church to join. Also, the main purpose of this card is so that we can stop by and ask them about their salvation. This is by no means a revolutionary idea. In fact, I would guess just about every church everywhere has a similar process. Some call them "connection cards" or some get really creative and call them "first-time guest cards". Our church calls them "Let's Get Acquainted Cards" and has for years.

With this in mind, let me introduce myself or let's get acquainted. My name is Andrew Wolfenbarger and I am one of the Pastors at Joshua Baptist Church. I grew up in the church that I now Pastor which is pretty awesome and kinda strange at times. Especially when someone says, "I remember changing your diapers. Oh, by the way, great sermon tonight Preacher!" I still haven't figured out how to respond to that one yet. "Thanks" is as good as I have come up with so far. I feel that I should be thankful for both the diaper changes and the compliment. After all, in reality, both probably stank pretty bad.

Let me share with you the reason that I am starting this. To keep it short, I'll just say, "because everyone else in ministry seems to be blogging". Just kidding. I am doing this for various reasons but none of them include me being smarter than others, a better writer than others, or because the world needs to hear my voice. Contrarily, the reason that I am doing this is that on the random chance that someone actually googles the perfect series of words and my blog somehow shows up on the eighth-page of results and then click on it, I want to be an encouragement to them. There are people so much smarter than me and frankly more spiritual than me, but I am what I am by the grace of God. Therefore, my main purpose is to encourage anyone who reads this blog. Maybe there is a young preacher who is struggling to balance raising a family, serve in ministry, and have a vibrant relationship with God and do them all really well that will read this and be helped. Maybe one day, an older man of God will accidentally hit a button on his phone that sends him to this blog and he sees a young preacher who feels the same way that he does on matters of Christianity and ministry and it helps him in some way. These are the reasons that I am doing this.

I am a country boy who is from a small town who is blessed beyond his wildest dreams. I have a fantastic wife and God has blessed me with three wonderful children. My Father has preached the gospel for over fifty years and he has always been my hero. My Mother would fight a grizzly bear for me (and probably win) and I have five brothers and sisters. Other than my immediate family I have a church full of secondary family who are more than just "brothers and sisters in Christ" but they truly are my family.

Now that you know all of this, welcome to my blog!

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