Have you ever been afraid of something? Maybe afraid isn't the best word. What I'm talking about here, is have you ever had something that you were afraid to do and when you thought about it, it literally gave you anxious feelings in your body?
To me, the thought of flying an airplane is just that. The thought of sitting in a cockpit, and having my hands on the controls utterly terrifies me. The mere thought of it makes me have to get a drink of water.
I've done a lot of things in my life. Somethings that other people may think are hard or scary, but nothing in the world can compare to the thought of flying a plane.
I don't know why that is. Maybe its because its so foreign to me, or because I don't trust planes or whatever. People who fly planes are algorithmic arithmatic Rhoades scholars who are friends with Stephen Hawkings. Tall preacher types with large foreheads do not fly planes.
Until yesterday. Yes. I flew a plane yesterday. I wasn't expecting it to happen, but a friend called me yesterday to see if I could go on a flight with him at 5pm. I never expected that when I went that he would let me fly. I really didn't expect that when we were on the runway that he would tell me to put my hands on the yoke and be the one to pull back and get us up in the air. I WAS FLYING AN AIRPLANE!!!!!!! Screaming, yelling school boy excitement as I lofted into the air. WOW WOW WOW. Its almost unexplainable what it feels like. It was awesome. One of the best experiences of my life. It was great.
Before yesterday, I wouldn't believe you if you told me that I could overcome my fear by simply doing it. I was 3000 ft closer to the heavens yesterday and the Lord was there with me. Surveying the beauty of his creation and soaring over the Puget Sound I was fully aware of the fact that with God, you don't have to fear anything. No person, no problem, no fear. We're the ones who hold ourselves back from experiencing God's best for us. We're the ones who put limits on God. Not him on us. There is no limit to what He can do with us if we'll let him.
Don't be afraid to try something you are afraid of. Its rewarding. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment and awareness of God's ability to empower you.
God Bless you today.
matt
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
That was some gooood preachin'
I heard a really good message yesterday.. wait... it was the message I preached yesterday.
Preaching is an interesting thing. There are times when I preach and I think "wow. that was some good preaching" and I get zero feedback. There are other times when I think "wow. i really tanked that one" and people tell me what a great message it was. Its not why I preach, but its a part of being a preacher that you may not know.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I really think that yesterday's message at church was powerful. Not necessarily because I spoke it, but it was more the direction that the Holy Spirit took it yesterday. It really was a bare-bones Gospel message, and I have to tell you, it encouraging to hear the Gospel, time and time again. I never get tired of it. Forgiveness of Sins, hope for the lost, reconciliation.
I think sometimes Christian people forget the basic truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- Jesus came to reconsile man to God. It is what Jesus did for us on the cross that makes that possible.
When we go through trial and tribulations, its easy to begin the process of self-depreciating thoughts and actions because of the effects of the current situation we're in. Usually we spend alot of time thinking and worrying and wondering instead of spending time abiding in the Lord. Do you realize that it doesnt matter what you are going through, that God is there in the midst of it?
When you were an alien to God, and not in his family, He called you to Him through his love. How much more love does He have for you now that you are his son or daughter? He doesn't pull away during these times, he pulls you in closer. Reflect on that truth when you're going through it. Abide in His love. Rest in His glory. He's got all you need babay!
Don't let the world confuse the basic truths of God's word. Its love. Lots and lots of love. For you and for others. The bible says if we dont love, we dont know God, so walk in that today and go out and love someone!
Have a blessed day. I will.
matt
Preaching is an interesting thing. There are times when I preach and I think "wow. that was some good preaching" and I get zero feedback. There are other times when I think "wow. i really tanked that one" and people tell me what a great message it was. Its not why I preach, but its a part of being a preacher that you may not know.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I really think that yesterday's message at church was powerful. Not necessarily because I spoke it, but it was more the direction that the Holy Spirit took it yesterday. It really was a bare-bones Gospel message, and I have to tell you, it encouraging to hear the Gospel, time and time again. I never get tired of it. Forgiveness of Sins, hope for the lost, reconciliation.
I think sometimes Christian people forget the basic truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- Jesus came to reconsile man to God. It is what Jesus did for us on the cross that makes that possible.
When we go through trial and tribulations, its easy to begin the process of self-depreciating thoughts and actions because of the effects of the current situation we're in. Usually we spend alot of time thinking and worrying and wondering instead of spending time abiding in the Lord. Do you realize that it doesnt matter what you are going through, that God is there in the midst of it?
When you were an alien to God, and not in his family, He called you to Him through his love. How much more love does He have for you now that you are his son or daughter? He doesn't pull away during these times, he pulls you in closer. Reflect on that truth when you're going through it. Abide in His love. Rest in His glory. He's got all you need babay!
Don't let the world confuse the basic truths of God's word. Its love. Lots and lots of love. For you and for others. The bible says if we dont love, we dont know God, so walk in that today and go out and love someone!
Have a blessed day. I will.
matt
Friday, October 24, 2008
I promise I'm not reaching
I promise you that I am not reaching for some sort of spiritual meaning in the seemingly benign things that go on during my life.
The reality is that the stuff that I can share here can usually only be limited to such interactions seeing how I cant really share the inner-workings of church politics or interactions that I have with my parishoners. Its kind of a no-no to share personal information about your parishoners on the web. For some reason they seem to frown on it. Go figure (obviously I'm joking here).
Before I share with you an insight for today, I want to be completely clear- I have not decided to run a marathon yet. I am in the "thinking about it" phase. Meaning, I'm thinking about it. I'm at about 60 percent there. Its a big deal to make that decision, so I'm still working up the courage to make the commitment.
That being said, I was on my walk this morning with my dog and my wife thought it well that we should do a bit of joggin in the midst of our walk. I got to tell you. Joggin in 37 degree weather isn't the funnest thing. Even the slightest increase in respirations burns your chest and throat. I honestly didnt even run that much. I just increased my speed a bit more from a fast walk. But it hurt.
Whats the application? Increased activity on the human body brings a painful response. Its like that with most things. Including spiritual things.
When you take one step closer to God, the devil comes at you with all he has to try to discourage you and keep you from growing. Like physical activity, spiritual activities are very important to your personal well being, but when you do them, they dont usually make you feel better right away.
Getting less sleep to get up in the morning to pray is a drag until you get used to it. After that period, you get used to the decreased sleep, and you begin to long for the time of prayer, because you realize what an improvement it makes in your spiritual life.
I hope running will do that for me... eventually I'm sure.
push yourself. go past your comfort zone. be willing to do something that doesnt make you 'feel' good immediately and watch how it will help you improve in the long run. Get up and pray. Go to church. Call a friend. Read your bible. Go for a walk.
God has a wonderful plan for your life. Believe it. His word declares it.
Blessings
matt
The reality is that the stuff that I can share here can usually only be limited to such interactions seeing how I cant really share the inner-workings of church politics or interactions that I have with my parishoners. Its kind of a no-no to share personal information about your parishoners on the web. For some reason they seem to frown on it. Go figure (obviously I'm joking here).
Before I share with you an insight for today, I want to be completely clear- I have not decided to run a marathon yet. I am in the "thinking about it" phase. Meaning, I'm thinking about it. I'm at about 60 percent there. Its a big deal to make that decision, so I'm still working up the courage to make the commitment.
That being said, I was on my walk this morning with my dog and my wife thought it well that we should do a bit of joggin in the midst of our walk. I got to tell you. Joggin in 37 degree weather isn't the funnest thing. Even the slightest increase in respirations burns your chest and throat. I honestly didnt even run that much. I just increased my speed a bit more from a fast walk. But it hurt.
Whats the application? Increased activity on the human body brings a painful response. Its like that with most things. Including spiritual things.
When you take one step closer to God, the devil comes at you with all he has to try to discourage you and keep you from growing. Like physical activity, spiritual activities are very important to your personal well being, but when you do them, they dont usually make you feel better right away.
Getting less sleep to get up in the morning to pray is a drag until you get used to it. After that period, you get used to the decreased sleep, and you begin to long for the time of prayer, because you realize what an improvement it makes in your spiritual life.
I hope running will do that for me... eventually I'm sure.
push yourself. go past your comfort zone. be willing to do something that doesnt make you 'feel' good immediately and watch how it will help you improve in the long run. Get up and pray. Go to church. Call a friend. Read your bible. Go for a walk.
God has a wonderful plan for your life. Believe it. His word declares it.
Blessings
matt
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Interruptions
I'm enjoying writing the blog so far. Looking forward to it in fact.
I had some great plans to today to spend some time in prayer reflecting and supplicating before the Lord almighty to recieve some sort of cosmic revelation to share with you today.
Its not going to happen. I just got a call from someone who needs me to come by for a visit.
Such is life isnt it? we plan our days, our weeks and the like and expect that everything will go as planned, but God in his infinite wisdom likes to 'shake things up'.
Be obedient to that in your own life. Allow the Lord to interrupt your plans and what you think is best for you. He uses interruptions to help us realize that he's the one, not us, and that we are to be obedient to what he asks us to do. Its rarely convenient, but its always within His plans.
Be blessed with that today. Allow those interruptions of the day that truly are divine appts, for you to be able to bless someone else.
God's best to you today. Enjoy that sunshine!
matt
I had some great plans to today to spend some time in prayer reflecting and supplicating before the Lord almighty to recieve some sort of cosmic revelation to share with you today.
Its not going to happen. I just got a call from someone who needs me to come by for a visit.
Such is life isnt it? we plan our days, our weeks and the like and expect that everything will go as planned, but God in his infinite wisdom likes to 'shake things up'.
Be obedient to that in your own life. Allow the Lord to interrupt your plans and what you think is best for you. He uses interruptions to help us realize that he's the one, not us, and that we are to be obedient to what he asks us to do. Its rarely convenient, but its always within His plans.
Be blessed with that today. Allow those interruptions of the day that truly are divine appts, for you to be able to bless someone else.
God's best to you today. Enjoy that sunshine!
matt
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday- Typical Pastor Day off
Mondays are usually my day off. I dont like taking days off. I get bored real easy. I like to be real busy, working on something, producing. there is a certain satisfaction when you get into bed at night and you've got something to show for your day.
But alas, even the Lord Almighty rested, so I try to set aside mondays as a day when I do next to nothing. just relax and rest and do real pastorly recharging activities, like watching television.
Crystal went to some baby store yesterday (not for us- for those who were wondering) so i had the tv all to my self. I must tell you. There are few small victories you get as a husband. Getting the remote all to yourself is a wonderful thing.
So I watched a show on the Discovery channel about "big fix" or somethign like that. Basically they do some huge fix job that takes a lot of people and resources and its huge and all that.
The show yesterday was about a cruise ship. Big huge luxurious ship. To run this ships power it takes about 24 million dollars a year, so they wanted to put in a new generator that would cut its power needs by about 40%. It was a very big ordeal when you watched the show. They had to cut a gigantic hole in the side of the ship (below the waterline) and re-route a bunch of pipes. This new generator weighed 60 tons. Not an easy fix.
It took them 24 hours a day for 3 weeks to do this fix. It worked. Its going to take a while to recoup the cost, but in the long run. Its a good deal.
I'm sure you're seeing the spiritual application already: God wants to do work in our hearts and sometimes its a 'big fix' that may seem daunting. Although its a huge task that takes a lot of time, is real messy and involved, its worth every bit. Let God do the work. he'll make you better and you'll be better because of it.
Ask the Lord what fix you need in your heart today. What area of your heart that you're not letting the Holy Spirit do its work.
You're more valuable than any cruise ship. And you've got more power in the Holy Spirit than any generator.
Be blessed to day. Let the Lord do a "Big Fix" in your heart today.
matt
ps. if you think its unGodly to watch TV disregard this post.
But alas, even the Lord Almighty rested, so I try to set aside mondays as a day when I do next to nothing. just relax and rest and do real pastorly recharging activities, like watching television.
Crystal went to some baby store yesterday (not for us- for those who were wondering) so i had the tv all to my self. I must tell you. There are few small victories you get as a husband. Getting the remote all to yourself is a wonderful thing.
So I watched a show on the Discovery channel about "big fix" or somethign like that. Basically they do some huge fix job that takes a lot of people and resources and its huge and all that.
The show yesterday was about a cruise ship. Big huge luxurious ship. To run this ships power it takes about 24 million dollars a year, so they wanted to put in a new generator that would cut its power needs by about 40%. It was a very big ordeal when you watched the show. They had to cut a gigantic hole in the side of the ship (below the waterline) and re-route a bunch of pipes. This new generator weighed 60 tons. Not an easy fix.
It took them 24 hours a day for 3 weeks to do this fix. It worked. Its going to take a while to recoup the cost, but in the long run. Its a good deal.
I'm sure you're seeing the spiritual application already: God wants to do work in our hearts and sometimes its a 'big fix' that may seem daunting. Although its a huge task that takes a lot of time, is real messy and involved, its worth every bit. Let God do the work. he'll make you better and you'll be better because of it.
Ask the Lord what fix you need in your heart today. What area of your heart that you're not letting the Holy Spirit do its work.
You're more valuable than any cruise ship. And you've got more power in the Holy Spirit than any generator.
Be blessed to day. Let the Lord do a "Big Fix" in your heart today.
matt
ps. if you think its unGodly to watch TV disregard this post.
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