the break blog

What do you see?

2008-09-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-08-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

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!

Centrifuge Day 4

2008-07-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic day here at Centrifuge... Breakfast of champions... Biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage and of course OJ and great coffee. Tonight's message dealt with our victory in Jesus. A great quote, "We don't battle for victory, we battle from victory." How true that is... we have already won the battle in Christ. Our devotion spoke about the Lord's sufficient grace. Along with grace comes learning the Word and hiding it in our heart. Tonight we had a special treat at "Night Life". Our very own Justine Klein was a "hippie" in an original drama short. It was a great night of originality complete with "Modern Dance", "Musical Solos", "Drama" and "Percussion". It was truly a great night to remember. Tomorrow will start at 6:30am.... It will come quickly so for now... good night.

Centrifuge Day 3

2008-07-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Another great day at Centrifuge camp. Breakfast came quickly and yes... it was yummy pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast with OJ and coffee. We had another great time of worship learning new songs that impact our hearts for the Lord. We're now beginning to see some of the walls fall down around the hearts of our youth. They are truly amazing people... they have a passion for the Lord. Tonight's devotion dealt with our worth in the Lord... the question was asked, "How much are you worth to the Lord?"... some answers were, "I am worthless", "We are priceless", "I have no idea". My favorite answer was given by the man who asked the question, Brandon Willette. He answered the question this way, "How much am I worth to the Lord?", "I am worth the Son of the Living God." In other words... God saw such worth in us that He allowed His only Son to come and die on the Cross for our sins... Wow... we must be priceless in His eyes.

Well, I finally found out what "Night Life" is all about... I got chosen (sacrificed) by my youth leaders to be a part of the GAME for the evening. Picture if you will a large room full of people (510 to be exact) all screaming and shouting... Then imagine being called up on stage in front of all those people... That was me about 20 minutes ago with 19 other poor youth leaders on stage. Our job was simple... to answer questions regarding current events. Our question was, "Name the person who plays Hanna Montanna." I still have not idea who that is... and so the punishment for not having the correct answer was to run a mini relay race... I had to place my head on a pole and twist around it 7 times... and then attempt to run to my team..... After I picked myself off the floor the game was over... our team had shamefully lost... But it was all in good fun.

Centrifuge Day 2

2008-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well today I had the wonderful opportunity to find out that I left my laptop charger at home... My battery is at 56% and dropping. I will continue to journal as long as my laptop allows me to. Today was a great day. We woke up around 6:30am and found ourselves in the breakfast line. What's for breakfast you ask? Eggs, sausage, fruit, toast, cereal, juice, coffee, etc. We needed that fuel for the day were to embark on. After breakfast we had worship and chapel. After that we broke off into our groups and the adults stayed for our daily information meeting with Pastor Will. We will be posting pictures and video soon. The youth are excited to see what God is going to do with them as well as through them. After lunch (hamburgers) we had some free time to hang out and mingle with other youth we didn't know. Wow there are a lot of people here! Tonight was a touching night... Worship started and we were up on our feet clapping and singing praises to our Lord and Savior. We learned some new songs (I purchased the CD) that spoke to our hearts. Pastor Will gave a gripping message that ended with a call for salvation. He showed us the parallels of Moses and the bronze snake (Numbers 21) to the Gospel of Jesus (John 3:16). It was great to watch the youth respond to his message. After the message we went and had a devotion led by Brandon Willette and myself (Matt Klein). We spoke about leaving our sin and starting a fresh life in Christ. We wanted them to be impacted with the realization that this week will go by quickly... We wanted them to understand that there is a stereotype that goes along with camp. "Kids get all hyped up on Fuge, then go back home and two weeks later the "high" is gone!". We challenged our youth to go beyond the eyes of those who place the stereotype on them... We challenged them to get right with Jesus and to put Him first. Then we took some time to pray individually. Now, as I write this journal, 520 youth are in a sanctuary having fun at a service they call "Night Life". I'm not sure what exactly goes on there but I will journal tomorrow with all the details.

Centrifuge Day 1

2008-07-21T22:35:00.001-07:00

Today was a long one but a good one. We got on the road at 9:00am... With a brief stop at a local gas station to fill up our cars... and a stop at our local Starbucks to fill up our bellies, we were happy. After four hours of travel time we finally reached our destination, "Centrifuge". We had about two hours of free time and then it was time for dinner. Pizza was the food of choice and of course there were no complaints from the youth. After dinner we were off to worship. We entered a large room filled with 510 youth kids. The room erupted with the sound of music and praise. After worship we heard a short message from Pastor Will from Acts 3. Immediately following worship was a leadership meeting for all leaders. The youth were dismissed based on age to their groups. After the leadership meeting we gathered with our individual youth groups and had a devotional. We shared on God's faithfulness. Then it was free time... I truly believe we will have a great night of sleep as our youth are tired from the day.

Is Hell Eternal?

2008-07-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

One of the most heart wrenching topics to talk about is the topic of "Hell"... As a Christian, I have the wonderful hope of spending my eternity with my Savior, Jesus Christ. That being said, there are those who have not accepted Jesus into their heart. We are all faced with the reality that everyone is going to pass from this life to their eternity. It is important to understand that we all have eternal life... the question is, where are you going to spend your eternal life? In Matthew 25:31 we see the story of "the sheep and the goats". We learn that on that final day of judgement we will be separated... those who have accepted Jesus into their hearts and those who did not. If you have accepted Jesus into your heart, a paradise called Heaven awaits you. If you turned your back on Jesus, then unfortunately there is a place called Hell. In Matthew 25:46 it says, "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." The word they is referring to those who did not accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. They will spend an eternity in a place call Hell which was prepared for the Devil and his angels. It's important to note that God does not send anyone to Hell. We are all responsible for our own choices... The dictionary defines "eternal" as "endless". Those who choose to go to Hell will have no hope of redemption when they are there. We only get one life to make an eternal choice. If you have questions regarding Hell or Heaven, I would invite you to e-mail me at pastormatt@bellroad.org.

Picture of the Week

2008-07-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here's two thumbs up!

Having Faith In An Unfaithful World

2008-07-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

It's often said, "I have to see it to believe it". Well for some of us this statement rings true. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". How many of us have true faith... to yield over full control of our life to an unseen God? It's easy to say, "Yes, I believe in God" or "I have accepted Jesus into my heart". What does all this mean without true faith? In short, it means absolutely nothing. Our faith needs action behind it or else it is dead. Now don't misunderstand what I'm trying to say. Works do not give us salvation, but faith without works is dead (James 2:20). It's what we do with what we believe in that develops our true character in Christ. It's not enough to say, "I believe"... we must take action. What good is having this salvation and not sharing it with those who don't? That's about as absurd as a doctor having the cure for cancer and not telling anyone about it. We who have accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts have a responsibility... We are called to share the Gospel... The Bible tells us to go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15). I don't know about you but, I don't want to go to Heaven alone... I want to take as many people with me as I possibly can.

Our Picture of the Week

2008-07-10T00:42:00.001-07:00

Is she sleeping or praying? You tell us.

Happy 4th Everyone

2008-07-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today is the 4th of July... a time to reflect on our freedom. We as Christians can reflect not only on the freedom we have in America, but the freedom that we have in Christ.

Worshiping God when you don't want to

2008-07-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

It has been said, "Worship God when things are going great and you will be ignored. Worship God when things are falling apart and people will notice."

How true this is. We often find ourselves focusing on our problems rather than focusing on the our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Remember Peter walking on water? (Matthew 14:22-34) Here was an ordinary man with the faith to get out of a boat and walk on water to Jesus. Do you remember what happened to him? He saw the effects of the wind and the crashing of the waves and he got scared and began to sink. The moral of the story... He took his focus off of Jesus and directed it to his problems.

Sometimes it's hard to focus on Jesus when we're going through a trial. But remember, God didn't promise us that we wouldn't go through trials. God promised us that we wouldn't be alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God will never leave us or forsake us. He is with us through the good times and the bad.

When we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, our problems begin to shrink. May God bless you this week!

Do you have a question that needs answering? Give us an e-mail and we'll answer it using the Word of God! Email us at question@thebreakonline.com.

Our picture of the week

2008-07-01T00:46:00.001-07:00

Brandon and his trusty hat.

we're online

2008-06-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

we created a blog page for the break... and we're not stopping there. check back for our frequent updates. we will be posting not only our up and comming events, but other cool stuff like 15 min bible studies, new music, videos, pictures as well as cool ways to get free coffee and snacks.

so check back.