The Call of Duty

14 11 2009

I always love this time of year…you know, the time where seasons change. It seems like in the south there are always quick season changes…we get a few days of cold, then BAM…it’s warm again…and then all of the sudden, the leaves have fallen and bitter winter has arrived with a cruel vengeance. Although change is always good, it can be very uncomfortable. We like to say we love change, but when it comes to it, it always hurts or makes us feel awkward.

There is definitely a lot of change going on in my life. In fact, my family and I are now taking on a new journey in life, but before I go into any details, let me first set the story up:

Roughly 8 years ago I left an unfortunate situation in a church that I grew up in…I remember leaving with a sense of urgency to do something in the greater Valley area and thinking that God was not through with this area. It was then that God had placed a desire in my heart to one day plant a church in my home town. Now, I know what you’re thinking…NOT ANOTHER STINKING CHURCH…right? Well, depending on your definition of church I would agree…but that’s another blog.

I wrestled for years with what God was calling me to do…in fact, I went into college thinking I would go into the music industry…Yet it seemed there were signs all around telling me I was destined to do something else. Coming home from Atlanta from a failed internship a few years ago, I remember thinking what in the crap am I doing? It was then I was reminded of what Christ was calling me to do. I remember feeling this burning desire to see a place where people from all walks of life would come to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.

So, here I am some 7+ years later…On a journey…stepping into what I know Christ has summoned me to do. I have a raging passion to see Christ revealed to the West Point/Valley area and I believe that time has come. So, I’m calling on you to be in much prayer for me and the team that is already in place to see this vision come to life. I believe the churches best days are ahead of her…not behind her. Over the next few posts I’ll be talking more about this and the vision of Refuge Point Church.

I am both excited and a bit scared…but I trust that God is going to do some amazing things in the near future.

Love you dearly-





Nooma Rain (Trailer)

12 11 2009

This is a powerful video that I wanted to share…This is just the trailer…I hope you have a few minutes to watch the full length video.  Powerful Stuff!

I know this is my first post since July, but I am officially back from my long blogatical.   Stay tuned…because I am going to announce some pretty cool news that is going to take place over the next few months.  All I’ll say is that I’m really excited about what God is about to do!  Anyway, enjoy the video.

 





Jude’s Debut

20 07 2009

I wanted to post this video of my 2 year old boy rockin it out on the drums!  That’s my boy!





Thoughts on Judges

10 06 2009

Not Sonia Sotomayor…The book in the Bible.

1.  Joshua finally lead the Israelites to their promised land…Not Moses…Joshua.

2.  God was with his people…As the Bible says, Joshua asked that the sun stand still while they finished up whipping the Amorites.  Joshua 10:13 & 14 says, ‘The sun  stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.  There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was with Israel!’

3.  God was truly doing a work for the Israelites.

4.  BUT…Let’s move on in the book of Judges…soon after Joshua dies here’s what Judges 2 says…After that whole generation (the one that saw the sun stand still in mid day) had gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.  Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served other gods.

Okay…I’ve got to pause a bit on this one.

How in the crap can this certain generation not know who the Lord is?  The previous generation caused the freakin SUN to stand still!!!!

Here are my thoughts…

I must tell my son, and other children Merinda and I will have, about the Lord.  I must tell them about the ’sun stand still’ moments in my life.  I must tell my grandchildren (hopefully in 25 years) about what God has done.  I must tell the people I see around me about Jesus.  I must tell everyone, so that the next generation knows who the Lord is.  We cannot afford the next generation to be like what we just read.  The word says that because of their wickedness, they were in great distress.  I do not want the next generation to be in great distress because I didn’t tell them about the love of God.  I am freaking pumped about this.

You must tell someone about the ’sun stand still’ moments in your life…so that the next generation will know and serve our living savior.





A Thought on Worship

11 05 2009

The other day as I was preparing for worship, I asked myself this question…Why do I worship Jesus?  Now, I know what some of you may be thinking…’aren’t you a worship pastor…why are you asking yourself this?’  YES…I am.  I think it is healthy for one to ask themselves why they worship, so they are continually thinking about what Christ did.  Jesus died a brutal death for me; therefore I should have no other choice than to worship.

Here’s why I worship:

I worship Jesus because He is my victory.  I have been through many battles in life where I don’t see how I made it.  There were many times when I wanted to give up or give in to the situations that were surrounding me.  Yet I can look back and truly say that God was with me the whole time fighting for me.  I am reminded of the verse in Deuteronomy 1:30, ‘The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes…’.  If God is the same God yesterday as He is today, then God will fight for you and cause you to be the Victor…not the victim…(I stole that last line from Joel Osteen lol)…wait, I just wrote lol…

Jesus conquered the freaking grave!!!!!!  I want to encourage you to worship our Victorious Savior.

I’m really going to get into some hot topics over the next few posts on this subject matter.  I hope to blog more than once-in-a-when-I-feel-like-it…

Here are some interesting posts you should check out:

The New Church Tradition:  Worship

Suggestions for Today’s “Relevant” church





Pixulating

29 04 2009

I just thought I would share some random pix of Jude…He’s so grown…

100_2280100_2283jude





The Bread of Life

14 04 2009

I’ve been stuck on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ lately…God has really been revealing Himself to me in many ways on this subject matter.

Each night Merinda and I pray The Lord’s Prayer over Jude…which he can say by himself.  I was saying it one night and I believe I had a revelation when I got to the ‘give us this day, our daily bread’ part.  Jesus said it like this in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life, He who comes to me will never go hungry…’

As I say this prayer each night I think…Give me this day, our daily bread…or, give me my needs, give me the necessities of life, give me this, give me that…and before I know it I have a huge ‘to-do-list’ for God with just the simple words of, give me my daily bread.  But I think there’s something more to this.  I think Christ was saying I am the bread of life and when you pray, pray that you will eat of my bread, daily.  In other words…give me You, Jesus, the bread of life that was broken for all of humanity.  Fill me with the life of Christ…fill me with your spirit…so that I will never go hungry.

So when I pray the Lord’s Prayer I pray it like this in my spirit…”Father in heaven, holy and righteous is Your name.  Let your kingdom come and let Your will be done in my life and on earth just as it is in heaven.  Today…live inside of me and give me new life that is only found in You, Your daily bread.  Forgive me of my wrong doings as I forgive those who have done me wrong. Save me from the trails of this life and deliver me from evil.  The kingdom, power, and glory are Yours forever.  So be it!

-Matthew

Recommended song – ‘Your Love is Strong’ – Jon Foreman