What do you see?

Have you ever been in a horrible situation? What went through your mind? Perhaps it was a bad situation at school... or a at a job. Can you remember what your thoughts were at that time? I know for me, when I go through troubling situations, my mind is on the problem. I tend to focus on who or what the problem is and then I go into "fix-it" mode. I think of all the variables that are in play and I try to create a 1-2-3 fix-it plan. I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my past mentors this week. I shared some of the issues that were troubling my heart. He replied with an interesting statement. He said, "Matt... you may know what the problem is... don't focus on that... instead... try to focus on what the solution is..." Those words rang in my ear... I can spend so much time looking at the problem... that I become blind to the solution. I was reminded of Moses in Exodus 14. The Israelites had left Egypt and were now looking upon he Red Sea. The Egyptians were closing in and the Israelites were scared. They cried out to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Now let's be honest... We have all been led to a Red Sea at some point in our life. When we are faced with "problems"... what do we see? Do we focus on the waves crashing on the rocks? Do we focus on the Egyptians closing in on us? Let's look at how Moses answered them... Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Ah ha!... the answer becomes clear... I know for me, when I get into "fix-it" mode... I want to fix the entire problem and then move on... But sometimes God wants me to just "be still"... That can be hard. Imagine had the Israelites ignored Moses... Where would we be today? When your brought before the Red Sea of your life, what do you see? Do you see the waves and the rocks? Or do you see Gods hand at work? What do you see?

His Pain, Our Forgiveness

Let's be honest... we've all been offended by someone at some point in our life.  Whether it's a friend, family member or a complete stranger, the inward pain of failed expectations can eat away at us like cancer.  Too often than not we put our faith in people that have a 100% percent chance of failing us.  If we're still being honest, the hardest part of people failing us is the part where we have to forgive them.  In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks Jesus how often one should forgive someone... Peter says, 7 times?  I have to give Peter credit for not only doubling the Jewish average but adding one on top of that to make it seven.  Jesus quickly answers Peter by saying, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." In other words, Jesus was saying to Peter, forgive multiplied by infinity.  There is no set limit to the amount of times we should forgive...  To put this more into perspective, count the number of times you have failed the Lord... I would bet that it would add up more than 539 times. (ie. 77x7)  I know for a fact that my sins would equal higher than that number.  We have to realize that people will fail us... that being said, we serve a God who will never fail us.  There is not a time in history that God fell off the throne... He is the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords...  When He stretched out His arms on the Cross, He took upon Himself the past, present and future sins (ie. failures) of the world.  He has forgiven us for eternity... There is nothing that we can do to add up to the grace our Lord and Savior has given us.  His Pain, Our Forgiveness.

The time is 3:30

There are and have been times in my life where I have taken credit for God's work. If I've written a song, I'm guilty of stamping my name as the sole author. If I have lead worship and people are touched, I have been guilty of patting myself on the back for a job well done. If I've given a message to a group of people, I have been guilty of stealing the show away from God. Now don't get me wrong... God wants us to do our best. That being said, God gives us our talents to use for HIS glory... not ours. John the Baptist put it best in the book of John chapter 3 verse 30. (John 3:30) He said, "He must become greater; I must become less". He was speaking to people about Jesus. He wrote a volume of wisdom in eight simple words. Let's face it... we often enjoy the spotlight when things are going great. It's our human nature to put ourselves first. I believe John had something when he spoke that statement into existance. If we could live that one verse, I believe we would have a lot less problems in life. I know for me it is a daily prayer, "Lord, may you become greater in my life!" When you find yourself in a difficult situation or problem, simply ask yourself the question, "Is it 3:30?"

TO SIN OR NOT TO SIN | why ask the question?

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would lie or cheat to get it? We recently learned about David's battle with sin. In 2 Samuel 11:1-27, we see the birth of sin in David's life take form. It' s no doubt David could have had anything he wanted. After all, he was King. It reminds me of my son, Evan... He doesn't want his brothers toy until he finds out that he can't have it. More often than not we fall into the same selfish trap... We want what we can't have. In 2 Samuel 11:1-27 David sent his army off to fight in another battle while he stayed behind. This was the beginning of David's undoing. He should have been with his men in the battle. Instead, he neglected his duties. We see David strolling around the roof of the palace when he notices a beautiful woman bathing. He quickly learns that this she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who just happened to be in his army. The birth of sin begins with the entertaining of temptation. When we are temped, we have a choice. We can either run from it, or we can begin to entertain thoughts of how we can get away with it. The moment David heard she was married, he should have closed the door but instead, he takes it a step further and has Bathsheba brought to him. After a night of lust, David finds out that Bathsheba is pregnant. He could have repented at that very moment but devises a scheme to bring Uriah (Bathsheba's husband) home from the battle. Immediately, David sent word to Joab (who was with the army at Rabbath) and told him to send Uriah to the Palace. When Uriah arrived, David asked about how the war was progressing and told him to go home and relax. Uriah did not return home; however, he stayed outside of the palace because he said he could not go wine and dine and sleep with his wife while the others were out fighting and sleeping in tents. David attempted three times to get him to go home to his wife, so David sent him back to the war and instructed Joab to put Uriah in the front of the battle and then withdraw so that he would be killed. Joab, later sent a report of the war back to David that said that Uriah had been killed. David tried to play it off and after Bathsheba finished mourning over Uriah's death, David sent for her to be one of his wives at the palace. Then she gave birth to his son and the Lord was very displeased with what David had done. It's very easy to fall into sin... when we do, we can become very hard hearted. In my opinion the heart wrenching action wasn't the sin of adultery or trying to cover up a pregnancy. It wasn't involving others into sin or murder... The most heart wrenching effect was displeasing the Lord.

Are You Tired?

Have you ever had to run so long that your heart felt like it was going to leap out of your chest? Your legs were on fire and felt like spaghetti? Your mouth so dry that it hurt to swallow? Your body in pain from exhaustion? I remember joining a marathon back when I lived in Massachusetts... I was only 14 years old. I was a part of a huge tradition. I remember the excitement I felt as I placed my number on my chest and made my way to the front of the line. With hundreds of people surrounding me I had it in my head that I could actually win this race. Bear in mind that I've had no previous experience running a long distance race before. I didn't even train for this race... I just happen to show up and was able to sign myself in. I remember lining up at the starting line. The adrenaline pumping through my body. I was a man on a mission. "On your mark.. get set... GO!", the sound of the gun went off and I bolted. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I WAS IN FIRST PLACE!!! At least for the first quarter mile... Something that had earlier escaped me was the over powering feeling of exhaustion. I was completely and utterly tired. I quickly began to slow down. I went from a sprint to a slower pace jog and then finally to a walk and almost a crawl. Only 7 more miles to go. Needless to say, I didn't win the race. In the New Testament, Paul compares our relationship with Christ to a race. Sometimes as Christians we need to understand how to pace ourselves in our walk with Christ. I remember when I first accepted Jesus in my heart... I felt like I could take on the world. I remember telling everybody I could about Him. As time went on though, I began to get lazy in my relationship with God. He would give me opportunities to share with people and I wouldn't. I had felt so beat down with people's excuses of why they didn't believe in God or how Jesus was a great guy but wasn't God... that it began to take a tole in my walk with Christ. I began to get tainted with the thoughts, "why should I share, it's not like any body's even listening?". You may find this hard to believe but, our job as believers is NOT to save people. It's not in our job description. Our job is simply to plant the seed... to be a tool of the Holy Spirit. It's only by the Holy Spirit that people are saved. Perhaps you're sitting there reading this and thinking, "why should I even bother anymore?" That's an honest question... the answer is simple... because your still alive. Until the day that we stand before God, we are all in a race. Though you may be tired, frustrated, exhausted... just know that we don't run this race alone. Our Lord is there with us cheering us on. If you stumble, He'll catch you. If you fall, He'll pick you up. When you are weak and can't go on, He'll carry you. Don't grow weary in doing well... Don't give in to this world which will one day pass away. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

I Choose Eternal Life With Christ

It is interesting to think of our life as a giant choice. I often think of going to a local restaurant and seeing the large menu full of options. It usually takes me longer to read the entire menu than it does to eat the food that I choose. Sometimes we as Christians try and pick and choose what parts of the Bible we want to believe and follow. God made the decision process very easy. We can either choose to accept Jesus Christ in our hearts and live a life that expresses His love, or we can select to follow our own wants and desires. Reading through Matthew 25:31-46 "The sheep and the goats", God makes it very clear that we are either for Him or against Him. We will all stand before Him and give an account of our life. I choose eternal life with Christ... Just the thought of an eternal hell is freaky... but an eternal life apart from our glorious Lord and Savior... well that's just heart wrenching. A lot of people read Matthew 25:31-46 and get the opinion that we are saved based off of our works. Our works should be evidence of our faith... we are not saved by works... we are saved by grace through faith. (Eph. 2:8). That being said, since we are saved by God's grace, we then should be prayerful of those who have yet to experience and receive that grace that covers and cleanses our sins. We should be preachers of the Word. As we pray for opportunities to share God's Word, we shouldn't shrink back when He delivers those people to us. The is a true fact we as believers must come to grips with... there is a Hell and there are people on this earth who will be spending their eternity there. It is my prayer that the Lord would open our hearts for the lost.

Centrifuge Day 5

Well today was the final full day of Centrifuge.  This mornings breakfast was french toast... it was Awesome!  At the "AM Show" I got called on stage to perform the "chicken dance" in front of all the people.  It was then made known that I enjoyed turkeys.  After all the fun however, I did walk away with a cool DVD.  During the leadership quiet time, my wife and I drove down the hill to pick up some needed supplies as well as check voicemail and make a few calls.  When we returned it was time for lunch... Burritos!!!  They were good... I honestly believe I've gained 10 pounds since we've been here.  After lunch I took some time to video each of the youth kids.  I asked them what they thought of camp this year, what were some of the highlights for them, etc.  We got some great responses.  I will be taking all the pictures and video footage and preparing an online video of it.  I will also have a DVD version for anyone who wants it.  Ok well it's 11:58pm and we have to be up at 6:30am in preparation to leave.  More to come soon... good night all!