TAGGED

On March 19th I was "tagged" by Stephanie on her blog. She accuses me of being a "copy cat" often from her blog but she needs to give me a break - after all on Christmas her mom and I did give her the camera to take the pictures of Alyse. Now to respond to the "tag".

Here is what I understand are the rules of a tag:

• When tagged place the name of the person that tagged you and the URL on your blog



• Write 7 random facts about yourself.



• Name 7 bloggers that you are tagging.

7 random facts about Rick Hudgens

1. I am a Monkaholic. I watch or DRV every episode of the TV program Monk. I have on DVD every season that is available. When I get stressed out or need to "step away" from the pressures of life I escape into a room and watch Monk. My wife and kids make fun of me because I have even laughed at the commericals for an upcoming episode. However, I am not alone - Monk is coming to NBC on Sunday nights beginning April 6th.

2. At this moment I have 46 friends on my FACEBOOK page. I am preparing for a min-series of messages about friendship and the need for connection in the believer's life. I decided to check out FACEBOOK and set up a Facebbok page. WOW - it really caught on. I am amazed who is on facebook. I am very pleased that I already have 46 friends. I now check my facebook page every day. It feels good to say. "Thanks for being my friend."

3. I miss being able to run. I was never much of a runner. I would get up early and go for a run only to come home an puke my guts out. I tried to stay active and healthy. When my thyroid became non functioning and the weight came on it was a major life change for me. The past 7 years my weight has not varied more than 10 lbs.I began a new weight loss strategy which includes not weighing yourself for a week. When the week passed I stepped on the scales to discover I had gained 1 lbs. I am making necessary life changes including diet and exercise but I have to admit, I am fat and I miss being able to run. I wonder if it began when I started walking on the golf course instead of running on the court? Now I can't imagine being able to run on the court without the possibility of a heart attack.

4. I am a churchaholic. I love church! On a trip to California a number of years ago I took Sharron with me to 5 different churches for their services in a 24 hour period. One weekend of visiting some of America's greatest churches. I love vibrant, celebrative worship that stirs my heart to praise, and I love songs of faith that inspire me to continue in my walk with God. I long for preaching that is Bible based but not boring and moves my spirit.

5. I usually get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. I have a great internal alarm clock and I am blessed with the ability to lay my head upon the pillow and within 4 minutes be sound asleep. Usually about 8 hours later I arise to face the day.

6. I have a favorite cereal bowl that I purchased when I was in college. I still use this bowl. Sharron laughs at me that I use this old bowl. She comments that I have had that bowl longer than I've known her. Well, I really love my cereal bowl.

7. I recently got a note and a book from my good friend John Maxwell. It brought back a memory of one of my earliest times with John. Sharron and I were married and living in an apartment in Charlotte, NC. John came to speak at our church and stayed in our home. We were sitting in the living room talking and causally watching the winter Olympics on TV. Soon our attention went towards the television as John and I watched the 1980 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey Team and their victory over the Soviet Union at the Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. It is a night I will not soon forget.

Though I am not tagging 7 additional bloggers - I am requesting 7 people to comment. THANKS

What difference does Easter make on Monday?

The reports of good news from Easter Sunday are flowing in. As we gathering at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene we viewed a short countdown outlining the biblical account of the resurrection. We than began with the words echoed from millions of Christians around the world: HE IS RISEN - HE IS RISEN INDEED!

I want to express my appreciation to Tom and Joyce Alsbury for Directing the Choir and to Bob Floyd for directing the drama. The choir was fantastic! The actors (Sue Baker, Marty Lewis, Jeff Hewitt, Connie Solomon, Jennifer Floyd and of course John Watson [as Jesus]) were GREAT! To those "behind the scenes" Randy Powers, Sean Baker, Andy Joslin, Joanie Richards, Brian Cottle, Sandy Floyd, Peter Funke and Doug Schmidt we say thank you! Your labor of love and ministry unto God touched the hearts of all who attended. It was wonderful to see good friends back at church and welcome many new guest. The over 300 people is attendance were blessed by your ministry! We praise God for those who indicated the spiritual decisions they made at the close of the service! Easter 2008 will be remembered for many years to come!

Today is Monday - The day after Easter. How do we celebrate or remember this day? Times have changed in that Easter Monday was a legal holiday in the State of North Carolina from 1935 until 1988. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Easter Monday holiday in North Carolina stemmed from the tradition in the early 20th century of state government workers taking the day off to attend the annual baseball game between North Carolina State College (Now NC State University) and nearby Wake Forest College (now Wake Forest University and moved to Winston-Salem, NC). The holiday was enacted in 1935 and remained until 1988, when the official state holiday was moved to Good Friday to match the rest of the nation.

I believe this year the emphasis was upon the status of your NCAA Men's basketball brackets.

So -

What difference does Easter make on Monday?

Christ is risen - He is risen indeed!

The celebration of Easter is not for Sunday morning only but for every day in the life of a Christ Follower. We are to live each day in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:14 says: God honored the Master's body by raising it from the grave. He'll treat yours with the same resurrection power.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is real and changes lives today. If not for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our faith is futile.

1 Corinthians 15:16-20 says: If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

Let the power the Easter truth go beyond our Sunday worship experience and into our Monday life experiences as we face each day with the assurance of Christ's presence and power with us each and every day. Christ has risen from the dead

-

HE'S ALIVE and His presence is real.

These are trustworthy sayings..... PR

Preparing for Resurrection Sunday

Today, Sharron and I are home and enjoying some time with our daughter Danielle who came to visit for the Easter weekend. We are so glad she is here. On my recently established Facebook page I noted that I am preparing for Resurrection Sunday.

Last evening Sharron and I attended the Good Friday Service at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene. Pastors Kevin and Drew coordinated the service and Pastor Brittany provided child care. It was well attended and I applaud their ministry. When I came home I planned to post about this service and the meaning of Good Friday. I went to my daughter Stephanie's blog and tears came to my eyes as a rad her blog and watched the clip on her site. If you did not see it click HERE.

Each year as I prepare for Resurrection Sunday I take a day of fasting - time in God's Word and mediate upon the price paid for my salvation and the grace of God extended to me. One of my favorite songs during this time is a Ray Boltz song: Watch the Lamb:


I am very excited about our service tomorrow at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene


Our Celebration begins at 10:30 as we proclaim with Christians around the world: He is Risen - He is Risen Indeed! Then we will sing a well loved hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen today! Then the choir will present a mini-musical entitled THE DEBT. I will then preach my first Easter message at North Raleigh as Lead Pastor. I am praying and believing for an outpouring of God's presence and power upon our celebration service!

BREAKING NEWS

CMPD officer's cruiser T-boned during chase

11:09 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By WCNC Staff E-mail Us: NEWS@WCNC.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer's cruiser was T-boned during a chase on Tuesday night, and the suspect he was pursuing remains at large.

The officer was not seriously injured in the crash.

The pursuit started on Interstate 85 South when police spotted a vehicle matching the description of a car involved in a shooting earlier Tuesday afternoon.

The officer tried to pull the car over, but the driver would not stop.

Police chased the car on I-85 until it exited on Beatties Ford Road. The police cruiser was struck by another vehicle at the intersection of Beatties Ford and LaSalle.

Police are searching for a gray Mercury Grand Marquis with North Carolina license plate VRL-6839.

Police said they believe the car was involved in a shooting at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, in which shots were fired into an occupied vehicle.

Watch the video of the new report.

My son-in-law Josh was the police officer in the accident. Stephanie reports that he called from the ambulance and is okay. PTL! Click HERE to go to Stephanie's blog and read any updates.

Unleashed

Last Thursday, March 13th Pastor Brittany Cottle and I were privileged to join with the 150 people from Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC to attend the UNLEASHED Conference at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC. WOW! It was truly an awesome experience.



I especially enjoyed the day with my daughter Stephanie, who attended the the break out session with me for senior pastors only.

Before the session began I received a BIG hug from Steven Furtick - Pastor of Elevation Church. He shared with me his appreciation for Josh and Stephanie.

Pastor Perry Noble shared some great insights. Here are a few from my notes:

1. Leadership is as easy as listening to God.

2. When asked "What jazzes you?" Perry said," My Bible and a pen." WOW!

3. Staff your church according to your VISION

4. Empty seats at optimum inviting hours at church equals GROWING!

5. Don't be discouraged as a pastor. Remember, every church needs a back door.

Tears swelled in my eyes as the last main session came to a close and Pastor Noble asked all pastors to stand. When he asked for people to pray for us - Stephanie took my hand and prayed a very simple but powerful prayer. Pastor Brittany placed her hand upon my shoulder to show support. Then I felt many hands upon my shoulders, head and back as I was surrounded by "elevators" praying for me. It lingers in my memory to help me each time I get an email or a phone call from people wanting to express their comments on the life of the church and make known their personal preferences.

Do I sound cynical? My prayer is that we can get our eyes of what "we" want (selfishness) and look unto the fields white with harvest. We need only to bring people to Christ and give Him the glory!

I hope these ramblings are trustworthy sayings.

The Power of Prayer

On Friday evening at 6:00pm I was in the worship center at North Raleigh as the 24 hour prayer vigil began. There were 3 other people with me as took a few moments to prepare for prayer and share together. Julia Buzzard shared that a friend had been looking for a job for an extended period of time and as she prepared to leave her home to come to the church that friend came over to tell her that they had just gotten a job! Julia shared that she had written that prayer request on a card that was placed upon the altar last Sunday and gave praise to God for this answer. As Bob and Patty Benzie listened I noticed tears in Patty's eyes. She then shared that she had a prayer request on a card last Sunday and already God has answered that request! I prayed and decided NOT to say amen at the close knowing that prayers from God's people were only beginning for the next 24 hours. Within an hour, over 12 people were scattered throughout the worship center in prayer. I had the privilege of anointing a person with oil for the healing of their son during one of the late night sessions of prayer. It is with a heart filled with hope and faith that I believe this prayer vigil will become a change point in our ministry at North Raleigh. We are trusting God for His presence to fall upon us with power and the results will be changed lives!

Tonight we close the prayer vigil with a time of anointing individuals with oil for healing. We are careful to follow the directions in scripture found in James 5:13-15: "Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out."

On Sunday I plan to continue in our series of messages as we travel to the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is located just outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was here that Jesus would go often to pray. I have stood upon the Mount of Olives several times and have memories of praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here is a short visit for those who have not had the opportunity to go there:

"Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, he said to them, 'pray that you will not fall into temptation.' He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed." Luke 22:39-41

These are indeed, Trustworthy Sayings. PR

Happy Birthday Alyse

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSE!



Today was a wonderful day in beautiful Indian Trail, NC as we gathered to celebrate the one year anniversary of the birth of Alyse!



Sharron and I really enjoyed our day with our family. We enjoyed the overnight stay at Josh and Steph's. This morning I was blessed by the laughter of Alyse as we began the day.



We had a great time at lunch followed by a time back at Josh and Steph's for Alyse to open the presents. It was so precious to hear Alyse say "thank you" for the gifts.

Today is a day to be remembered. It is so hard to realize that one year ago our eyes were filled with happy tears as Alyse was born. Now, we celebrate her first birthday. WOW - the blessings of God are overwhelming!

Sharron and I are very thankful. As this day comes to a close, Sharron and I are back in Raleigh and looking forward to a great day at church tomorrow.

This is a great time for us to say "We love you" to Josh - for being such a great son-in-law ( the son I always prayed for) to Stephanie for being such a beautiful person and fantastic mom; to Danielle, who holds such a special place in our heart; to Joy and Doug Huber and family (we praise God for bringing you into our lives); to Joyce Ford, our dearest and close friend; and today to Alyse, God's gift to us.

On March 1, 2007 God began to stir our hearts for the greatest leap of faith we have ever taken. We are so glad we stepped out in obedience to following God's leading in our life.