Are you serious.........Last night at 2:00am I got a frantic yell from Daniel who was supposed to be sleeping in his room. Although he was in his room, he was not sleeping. I walked in and he told me that he had a bad dream and wanted me to sleep with him. Tired myself, I said yes and laid down. I proceeded to ask him what his dream was about. He told me that it was about something fast but it was not Sonic the Hedgehog. I giggled and rolled over to go back to bed.
About a minute later Daniel said; "Dad, I think I ate a penny." What? Its 2:00am, you didn't eat a penny. He then begins to confess that he didn't have a bad dream but remembers having a penny in his mouth that he found in his bed and he thinks he swallowed it. I respond with some sort of bad joke about how he must of been really hungry to eat a penny and tomorrow I'm making hims a $1 bill salad with Thousand Island dressing. Whats wrong with me?
At this time, now Jacob decided he wants a bottle, I bring Daniel into our room and go to feed Jacob. When I come back, somehow, Abby is now in my bed. "Kill me now, that girl kicks like nobodies business." I give Daniel a kiss good-night and tell his it will be all good. He says to me; "Dad, don't tell mom I ate a penny." Of course I roll over and tell Beth, "honey, your son got hungry and ate a penny."
In a frantic uproar, Beth jumps up and says (non-discretely) "GO DOWNSTAIRS AND GOOGLE IT." So, Its now 2:35am and I am googling "What do you do if your child eats a penny?" The first 3 hits say that it will pass within 24 - 48 hours. I close down the computer and head upstairs for some much needed sleep. When I get up there, I relay the good news to Beth who is not yet satisfied. She needs to go and check it out for herself. Now its 2:45am and she's googling "My son swallowed a penny." Her first hit tells her that the zinc in the penny will erode his esophagus. GREAT......that's real positive. She runs upstairs and calls the Dr. Its takes 1 1/2 hours for them to call back. That brings us to about 4am.
When the nurse calls back, she tells us that it should pass and we need to be checking his doo-doo every time he lets it fly to see when it passes. Beth's angry response at 4:00am was "That's not what google said." I had to laugh.
Thus far, I have used a McDonald's straw and a blue pen to dissects the past two turds. Yippie. I bet you wish you were in my shoes.
I'll keep you updated.
Moral of the story. "Daniel is worth a little more today than he was yesterday; but only about 1 cent."
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Sin separates. The hardest relationship in the world is the marriage. Two people trying to come together and do life as if they are one is an element of disaster, however, this is God’s plan. The problem with this is that we are a selfish and sinful people who desire to have things the way “we” want when “we” want them. Since that is the case, anytime you bring two people together to exist in the manner that God calls us, there are many obstacles to overcome.
Over the years, thru reading scripture and personal experience, I have come to understand something about marriage. I will call this more of an observation than something that I have mastered, because God knows that I haven’t figured this out at all. I often wondered why God is so big on women submitting to their husbands and husbands being “loving and gentle” with their wives. I mean, of all the things that God could have told men and women to do in his Book, why choose to tell husbands to “love” their wives and women to “submit” to their husbands?
To help get a grasp on this, I think it is necessary to first understand what the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ is. Jesus is one of the three Godheads of the Trinity, referred to as the Son. He has always been and always will be. He is the head of the church; He is our mediator to the Father and the sender of the Holy Spirit. He is creator and Isaiah says he sits at the right hand of the Father, receiving worship from all of heaven. In Genesis, as the Trinity was making creation, it says that Jesus was there in beautiful rhythmic harmony with the Father and the Spirit, as man was being created in His image. After sin enters into the world in Genesis 3; Jesus, in order to save Gods elect and enter into relationship with Him; leaves the comforts of home (Heaven) and enters into His creation to live as a sinless, humble man; under humble circumstances; live the life that humanity could not live, and die the death that humanity deserves, only to be raised back to life on the third day; overcoming sin, death and absorbing the wrath of God because of our rebellion.
The crazy part of this story is that God did this for self-glorifying people who were God haters, selfish, proud sinners and on their best day had nothing to offer God. The bible states that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It says that Christ who knew no sin, became sin, so that sinners could be the righteousness of God. This is a beautiful story of loving the unlovable; one in which just about every great movie or novel is about. This is a story of a man giving up his life so that others may receive life. In essence, Jesus is our Hero.
How does this affect a marriage? The main reason we see God often speaking about how a man should “Love” and “Be Gentle” with his wife is because that is counterintuitive with our sinful nature. The same is true for a woman. God tells the wife to “Submit” to her husband, because a women’s natural sinful tendency is to lord over her husband and run his show.
As a husband, my natural desire is not to be gentle with my wife. Actually the opposite is true. My natural tendency as a sinful man is to be harsh with my words, brash with my attitude, and manipulative with my ways. Concerning how I love my wife; as a sinful man, my initial tendency is to love her when it is only convenient for me. I choose to love her when I want something from her or I will love her because of what she has to offer me. My natural tendency is never to love my wife because of who I am. Instead, I choose to love her for selfish motives. This is why it is so easy to say unloving things when husbands don’t get their way, to emotionally disengage, or in the worst of cases, become physically overbearing to a wife who is physically much weaker than her husband.
The wife, is not too different in her sin. A wives sin typically revolves around her desire for headship and leadership in a home. This has been going on since our first parents Adam and Eve walked the earth. As a matter of fact, sin first enters into the world, because Eve desires leadership, therefore sins, and then leads her husband to sin as well. God himself says in Genesis 3 that although a man will be called to lead his wife; the wife will desire to have the husband’s role as the leader of the marriage. Because of this, many wives are considered a nag. Proverbs compares a woman like this to the annoyance of a leak in the roof on a rainy day. This typically plays out in all sorts of ways. Most often because a wife cannot be physically superior; she becomes her husband’s greatest critic. Constantly criticizing every things he does; from his driving, the way he eats, the way he dresses, the way he parents, the way he pursues sex, the way he provides, the way he talks to her, and even his motives when he decides to love her well. Again, because her ultimate desire to lead, she will continually nag at his leadership and undermine the way that he does everything.
How can a marriage overcome this? To be honest, it almost seems hopeless and too broken of a system to overcome. However, Christ is in the business of reconciliation man to himself and his ways. 2 Corinthians puts it this way in chapter 5 “In Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself.” In other words, as we look at Christ and centralize the gospel in our lives, we will find God’s original intention and order for all of our ways. That being said, we now have to look at Christ in order to understand how marriage can work.
As we learn what our sinful tendencies in marriage are, we should be looking to choose to submit to Christ’s teachings in order to have a biblical marriage even as it gets hard. Looking at the gospel helps us endure when it seems too difficult. Before Christ was crucified for our sin, he went to the garden to wrestle with God. You see him pleading with God to change his ways and defeat sin in a way that did not require Him to separate from the Father and experience His wrath. However, after Christ wrestles with God, he humbles himself to God’s process. He does this out of Love for God and not love for Himself. If he loved Himself more than the Father, he would have avoided the cross and death and not have experienced the wrath and resurrection that saves sinful man. In the same way, we too need to wrestle with God. Gods design on a Godly marriage goes totally against our intuitive ways on how to go about relationships. In all honesty, God’s design for marriage is just too selfless.
Husbands and wives, dream with me for a minute.
Can you imagine a marriage that really fulfills Ephesians 5:21”Submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ”? Husbands, what if you pursued never saying another harsh, unloving word to your wife again? What if you looked to continually encourage your wife without any selfish motive or self seeking reason? What if you were gentle with her and kept your tone low and honored God with your words, looking to build her up and lead her as if she were really God’s child? Wives, you’re not off of the hook either. What if you fought every desire to lead and criticize your husband knowing that blessing comes from submitting to your husband because that’s God design? What if you chose to follow his leading; allowing him to do things the way that he desires without manipulating him and urging him to do things the way that you want it done? What if you thought the best of your husband and believed that his motives were always in love and honor to both God and you?
How would this change your communication? The way you fight? The way you make love and desire each other? The way you parent together? The way you seek to give rather than receive?
The trick to all of this is found in the Gospel as well. Again, the Gospel says that all have sinned against God and fallen away; but despite our sin and while we were still sinners, Christ died. In other words, Christ didn’t love us because there was anything special about us, he loved us because there was something special about Him. In marriage, the same is true. We are commanded to “Love” and “Submit” not because your spouse is “Lovable” or “Submission Worthy”, but instead we are to Love and Submit despite their sinfulness at times. Doing this despite sin is the mark of a true Gospel Centered person who is more interested in being obedient to Christ than they are in responding to sin by sinning themselves. Let’s be honest, when a wife is trying to Lord over her husband because she feels that she can lead better, she is sinning. The same is true when a husband is choosing to not deal with his wife in a lovable way because she is being un-lovable. We are not free to sin because our spouse first sinned against us. That is when this gets really hard, because we want to treat people with an appropriate response to how we are being treated. But, the gospel says that Christ treats us with love while we are unloving towards him; He is our great example.
Typically a marriage gets stuck in a never ending spiral of, what I will call, “Responsive Doing.” In other words, because He is not leading well, She will respond by sinning and taking over. Because she has taken over, He will respond with sin and be harsh with her. Because he was harsh with me, I will nag him and criticize every thing he does. Because she’s always nagging and criticizing, I will not love her well. And the spiral goes on and on and on.
Wives, allow your husbands to lead not because he is a great leader, but because of your desire to love Christ and obey his commands. Husbands, love your wives well and be gentle with her, not because she is lovable, but because of your desire to love Christ and obey his commands. Wives, make it easy for your husbands to lead by not criticizing every thing he does. Husbands, make it easy for your wives to follow you by leading well. Do nothing out of selfishness, but consider your spouse better than yourself.
Ultimately, Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." – Ephesians 5
Keep in mind, repent quickly and forgive graciously.
I never thought I would have the balls to disagree with Mr. Don A Carson, but I am very against this statement (although he leaves 1 or 2 exceptions): The whole article is at http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2009/12/05/counsel-to-a-young-church-planter-on-marriage/
(2) The right thing to do, in both cases, is usually (I can think of one or two difficult exceptions!) to finalize the other part (get married). It is not to try to undo what has already been done! One cannot “undo” this sustained sexual, common-law, union. Thus to demand that a couple tear themselves apart after they’ve been living together for, say, five years, with perhaps a child or two, simply won’t do. What needs to be urged upon them is that they get “married” legally — i.e., publicly, according to the cultural standards of the state.
When God transforms the heart of an unbeliever into a new believer in Christ, many things come along with that. New desires, new motives, and literally a new heart. In essence, that person is clearly a new creation and if the bible is true, they will only slightly resemble the old self. That being said, he/she is not the same person who was in the previous relationship even if they had been together for 7 years unmarried with 2 kids. I humbly submit that it is the biblical responsibility for the for the believer to exit the relationship and seek a Godly husband or wife. In reality it is only fair for both parties because a christian wife will desire a husband who will lovingly lead her in the Gospel, Pray for her children, serve her and lover her as Christ would. We all would agree that an unbelieving wife does not have the grace to do that. The same is true for a believing husband, he will desire a Godly wife who will compliment him in his pursuit of Christ, not fight for leadership and glory in the relationship, and humbly submit to his Godly leadership and authority. Similar to the unbelieving husband, the unbelieving wife does not obtain the grace to do this as well.
In my mind this becomes a Gospel issue. Is it hard to leave a relationship of 7 years in which there was deep sexual commitments involved? Yes. Is it hard to leave the mother or father of your children who is not your spouse? Yes. Is it hard to start dating again in search of the Godly spouse that God may have for you? Yes. But, none of that is as difficult as leaving eternity in heaven to incarnate on earth and start over as a baby. None of that is as difficult as living in an evil world, being tempted in every way and having no sin. None of that is as difficult as being beaten as Jesus was and carrying your own cross to be crucified for the sins of man. None of those things are as difficult as although being without sin, becoming sin; so that cheaters, murders, idolaters, etc can become the righteousness of God by bearing His wrath for us.
In the Gospel we see the great example of making hard decisions for glorious outcomes. It is a trust issue. Do we trust Christ enough to make the extremely difficult decision? As Pastors, do we really trust Christ enough to counsel our people in hard ways, leading them to make decisions that in light of our world seem crazy.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving this year and didn't eat to much food. This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. For starters, I am thankful that Jesus has saved me and forgiven me of my sin. This past year, I have realized just how wicked of a man I can be. It is amazing to me how easily I overlook my own selfishness, pride, and sin; but yet it is so easy to see it in other people. So, that being said, I am thankful that Christ has both saved me from my sin and by his grace He is daily conforming me to be more like Him. For that I am so grateful.
My family and friends are such a blessing to me. I am thankful that God has given me an incredible bride. She is not just my wife, but my Gospel partner. We work hand in hand making disciples of one another, loving people, and raising our kids in a God fearing home. It is a daily joy to wake up every morning next to my best friend.
Netcast Church is another thing that I am so thankful for. I am literally living a dream. I am so thankful that people have believed in us and have been so generous in helping us run after our dream of planting a Jesus-Centered church in Greater Boston. I am currently interning at 121 Church in Winston Salem, NC which already has been catalyst in helping me be better prepared for when we move. The elders have been so generous in sharing their lives with me and for that I am extremely grateful.
I want to thank all of those who have funded us thus far. We did extremely well in our matching donations which is currently allowing me to intern and be in the best position possible to pastor and plant Netcast Church next year. I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me in my journey. I am thankful for every email, phone call, and letter we have received. They mean more to us than you will ever know.
We are still working on our budget for 2010 and trying and get a jump start on our funding for next year. If you're interested in blessing us with an end of the year donation, our address is below. All checks can be made out to Daystar Christian Fellowship; who is handling all of our accounting. We do not waste money here. Every dollar helps prepare us to plant Netcast Church and spread the message of the Gospel.
Thank you for being a dear friend and staying up to date on how Netcast Church is progressing.
Well....There's a lot going on with Netcast Church as you can imagine. First things First!!!! I want to thank Jesus for allowing me to be in the position that I am in. Not many people get to pursue their God given dream, but by His grace, I have been given the unique opportunity to pursue the planting of Netcast Church.
Some Boston News....This week in Greater Boston there was an attempt to abduct a middle school boy. Pertaining to the economy, it was announced that MA has reached its highest unemployment rate since the 70's. Also, a dying man's last wish is to find his daughter who was taken out of his home 15 years ago because of his alcohol addiction and he has no idea where she is or where she was sent. He simply wants to tell her that he loves her before he dies of cancer. Wow; This is the area that God is calling us to.
I was told this week that there is not one city in all of Massachusetts that has at least 4% of its population attending a christian church. What an incredible opportunity to reach people and have an impact on a major metropolitan city. There is no question in my mind that this is a great investment of my time, money, and energy. Did you know that 1 out of 4 presidents received a college education from a university in Boston? It is one of the strongest intellectual, historical, and cultural hubs in the entire world.
Beth and I have concluded that we will be moving between January and June of 2010. If we have $100,000 of funding come in before June, we will move right away. If not, we will continue fund-raising and move in June. Also, I have been approached by a few companies about working in Boston while we plant bi-vocationally. That may also play a part in us leaving early; however, with kids in school, we are planning on June when school is out.
Please continue to pray for us. Support is beginning to come in and we have a few people praying about being financial partners. We are still short of our goal of $20,000 by the end of October. Please pray with us that God will stir people's hearts to give graciously within the next 15 days. Also, please pray for me as I continue to pursue humility. These past few months I have noticed how my pride creeps in very easily. I somehow at times feel as if "I" can do this when in reality, "I" cannot do anything. Christ promises to build his church, and if he chooses to use me in anyway, I am wholly grateful to be of service; however, this is not my deal. Nothing will kill a church plant faster than a prideful leader who thinks that building a church is all about him. I want my heart to cry Romans 11:36 "To God be the Glory forever, Amen."
Currently I have the privilege to be interning at a church plant called 121 Church in Winston Salem, NC. God has opened a great opportunity for me to walk with their pastor and learn from their elders. This will put us in a very strong position when we are moved and ready to launch. Being able to learn from their past mistakes and successes is something that many church planters don't have the opportunity to do.
Next weekend we have been invited to the church that Beth grew up in and Steve Shomo, our Executive Pastor, used to lead (Warwick Valley Church of the Nazarene) We (Chewning's and Shomo's) will be able to share our story and seek sponsorship from many people who we have known for years and we love dearly. This is very exciting news and I am blessed that their pastor / board has opened up thisoppo rtunity to us. So...if any of you are in NY, come and visit us on Sunday October 25th, 10:00am at 201 Route 17A or Route 94, Warwick, NY 10990.
Here are the financial goals we are praying for:
(20) PEOPLE TO GIVE $1000 before 10/31 to qualify for our matching donation of $10,000.
Becoming a Monthly Partner for a year.
Raise $50,000 by December 31st 2009
Raise $250,000 by June 2010
Also, pray for our Core Team, as God continues to put it on people's hearts to move with us. That is very exciting.
To make financial donations please mail all checks to: Netcast Church 4604 Ridgefall Rd Greensboro NC, 27410 Please make checks out to our sponsoring church "Daystar"
By now I am sure that most of you have heard of the baby in Australia who was in his stroller while it rolled over the ledge and onto the train tracks and then was run over by a train. Amazingly, the baby survived without anything more than a small bump on his head. If you haven't seen the video, you've gotta check it out at http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8843383 Now, lets be honest. If that baby was crushed, most of the world would have been screaming "Where was God in that?" But since the baby's safe, I wonder if the world will notice God's protective hand under that train? GRACE. This family and the world has seen grace in the video. the question is, will you notice it? You would have noticed the wrath, but will you notice the grace.
Its official, I am a full-time church planter and fundraiser. Monday was my first day on the job and I will admit that it wasn't what I expected. When I got into the office that C3 Church in Greensboro is letting me use, I sat down, looked around, and said to myself "Now What?" There was all this hype about taking the leap of faith, but where do you even start? There's just so much to do.
By the grace of God, my main focus right now is to hear God and pursue Christ everyday. My secondary focuses are planning, fund-raising, and moving. We only have about 2 more months of income left in the bank, but we trust that we heard correctly and the Lord will continue to provide as we share our vision with people. As terrified as I am, I am also so excited and humbled because I know that I will see the Lord provide for us and build His Church.
This past Saturday I was honored to be ordained by the Elders of our church (Daystar Christian Fellowship) It actually came exactly 9 years and 1 day after Christ regenerated my heart, the Holy Spirit came to live in me, and I received salvation. A lot has gone on since then; I've moved around, met my bride, had a lot of babies, met a lot of people and when I look back I can see God's gracious work in me. I have not arrived; actually many days I think I am more jacked up now than I was back then. However, just like Nehemiah says in chapter 2, I can look back and be confident that "the gracious hand of God has been upon me."
Please do not be surprised if you receive a phone call from me. I am spending much of my time prayerfully seeking support and partners. I love you guys and am grateful that Christ has sovereignly allowed us to be un contact with each other.
By the way, praise God. I a typing on a donated laptop. Amazing.
Matt
A few things to be praying for:
1. Please pay for the hearts of the people in Greater Boston. They are the least likely to pray, go to church, or read their bibles. Only 4% consider themselves Christians. God has given me a huge heart to reach these people for Christ by his leading and power.
2. That I would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5). Everyday is a challenge to fight the urge to take the pastoral position and make it an administrative role. Pray that I am lead by Christ and not by "Matt". He must increase and I must decrease.
3. As I mentioned previous, please pray about partnering with us financially. We have a local businessman who is willing to give $10,000 if we can raise $20,000 by at least 20 people. Every penny is matched 50% up to $1000 per person/organization. All checks can be made out to our sending chuch "Daystar Christian Fellowship" and sent to 4604 Ridgefall Rd, Greensboro NC 27410.
4. Is God calling you to reach Boston? You may be saying "it's not possible....but anything is possible with God." If God wants you to move, are you will to go? Isaiah 6 "I will go, send me."
Nehemiah 2:20 "The God of heaven will give us success."
What is success? It can't be money, health, prosperity, or understanding. If it were, John the Baptist would have been a failure and we know from what Jesus says, that there was no man greater. I am fully convinced that success is doing the will of Jesus and allowing his sovereignty define the outcome. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all else will be given to you."
I know its last minute for many of you, but I thought I would send this out as an invitation. Tonight I will be ordained as a Pastor by the elders at Daystar Christian Fellowship. I would love for you to be at the service if you have the ability. I totally understand that it may not be possible on such a short notice, however, I will put the details below. The ordination will be a part of our "Leadership Summit" held quarterly at our church. These events are typically lots of fun.
Starting September 25th, I will stop receiving my income from the company I have worked for over the past 4 years. On that same day, I will begin living fully on faith as a church planter and full time fundraiser. I can honestly say that I do not have a great plan, nor do I have a backup plan. Between now and the end of September, I hope to have those things in place. However this is what I do have; It's found in Deuteronomy 8 and then later proceeds out of Jesus' mouth in Matthew 4.
Deuteronomy 8:1-7 1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land
The idea is that God is still speaking today. As a man who claims to be a follower of Christ, I can choose to listen and obey as God speaks or instead follow my own personal plan. God will stir peoples hearts to support us as missionaries so that we can fulfill what we believe God is calling us to do. Specifically, Transform and Empower people for the glory of Christ in the Greater Boston area. He will provide through people just like you.
We are looking for financial support and prayer support. If you're willing to be on our prayer team or financial support team, please let me know. To request our budget, please reply to this email or go to http://www.netcastchurch.org/
Our 3 biggest needs today are:
1. Expenses. Every penny that is given will be matched 50% by a local businessman up to $1000. We're relying on both individual and corporate donations. All gifts are tax deductible and any checks can be made out to Daystar Christian Fellowship, which is our sponsor / sending church.
2. Computer. We are looking for a laptop to be donated for all church work to be done on. This is tax deductible if donated.
3. Prayer. We need to build a prayer team specific for praying for Netcast Church and it's needs. Because of the decision to do this; spiritual warefare is very close. I need a team willing to interceed for our needs, spiritual protection, and safety for our family. This team will be given specific needs through email and asked to interceed for us as needed.
I wanted to reach out and share that I have submitted my resignation with the company I work for and my last day will be September 25th. As many of you know, for the past 3 years, I have felt a strong calling to ministry, specifically planting a new church in Boston. I have recently informed my boss that I will be resigning from my position as an Account Manager effective September 25th. This decision was the most difficult decision that I have made in the past 6 years. Over the past few years I have received a great income which has allowed us to really reduce our living expenses and debt. To be totally honest, I really do not have much of a plan nor do I have a good idea of what our future holds. This is a scary thing for me as the sole provider for my large family; however, I do not want fear to dictate my decisions.
I am to the point in my life, that the risky direction that God is pulling me outweighs the security and opportunity that Corporate America has provided me. Beginning September 25th, I will become a full time church planting fundraiser. At that time, we will begin to put our house on the market and look to transition to Boston where we plan to plant Netcast Church. http://www.netcastchurch.org/
If you'd be willing, please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers as we make this transition.
Be Strong and Courageous, don't be discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I set you apart and appointed you. Have no fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. The enemy prowls around like a lion seeking to devour you. He has come to steal, kill and destroy you. Stand firm, and after you stood for as long as you can, keep standing. Jesus has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
I have yet to understand why Christianity is predominately female and full of limp wristed men who consider themselves good guys because they open doors, don't curse, don't get angry, stay clean and are polite in public. That is not the tone of scripture. Read those words above again. We are in a violent battle for our lives and it will take fearless strength to win the good fight. God has already set us apart by his grace and has called us to this. Don't get me wrong, this is not some masculinity chant. There is nothing like a powerful spirit filled women of God, I married one. However, the men are called to lead the way in this reckless pursuit of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Over the past month, our family has felt the fierce attack of Satan on our lives. There have been lies told about us, a suit threatened against us, and we've had friends turn their backs on us. I personally have been tempted to take the easy, risk-free road that could avoid many challenges but also deny me of the joy that only brokenness and a tough God honoring road can bring. However, God is faithful through it all.
When I first started this journey of planting Netcast Church, I really did think it would be a walk in the park. I thought that the call of God was so strong on my life that I would breeze right through it. Today, I am more confident than ever that this will never be the case. However, me and my family are up for the fight. I have recently heard the voice of the Lord and will soon be taking the biggest risk of my life. However, that's the call, its the thing that I preach and although the center of God's will is never the safest place to be, it is always the greatest place to be.
Money is low but God is High. I am scared but the Spirit of God in me is fearless. I feel unqualified, but God calls unqualified men. I worry about not being able to provide for my family, but Christ loves my family more than I do. I am not typically a risk taker, but Christianity is risky business. I feel like nothing, but my Heavenly Father says I am a son of the living God.
Please be praying for our needs. Maybe some of you who will read this, God will plant a seed in your heart to be generous to our call to plant a church in Greater Boston. Then again, he may not. Boston is the most lost area of the country, and we are on a suicide mission, but so was every other great man of God in scripture.
1. We are currently asking for help to raise $20,000 in order for us to receive the full matching donation from a local businessman. Every single penny gets us closer to our goal, Please consider giving. I commit to giving my life for this ministry and I am asking that you give some of your resource. I know it is a huge ask, but please consider it. The money needs to be in by 10/31.
2. We are currently looking for a free laptop for me to be able to do all of my work on. I need a place to store my files, connect to the net, email, and travel with. We currently have only one computer and we need another one specific for the church plant. If you have a connection, please let us know. New, Used, Referb....we don't care.
3. We are still looking for a worship leader. If you know of anyone who has a desire to lead people into worship of the transcendent God of the universe who's name is Jesus and is either on the Boston North Shore or interested, let me know. We already have a great team full of incredible musicians, but no leader yet.
4. Please be praying for me personally as I lead this endeavor by the power or the Holy Spirit. Pray for my humility, safety, purity, and sensitivity to Jesus' voice. I want to live with the centrality of the the Gospel being evident in my life. A life full of repentance, growth, and love.
I cannot express my love for all who read this email. You are a part of God's plan even if you pray for his favor over us only one time. I praise God that you are in my life. Check out www.netcastchurch.org and www.chewningjourney.blogspot.com
Matt Chewning
Any gifts can be sent to 4604 Ridgefall Rd, Greensboro NC 27410. Make any checks out to Daystar Christian Fellowship.
Well, I haven't posted in a long time but that does not mean that there wasn't a whole lot going on over the past 4 weeks. Actually, there has been a ton going on over the past few weeks.
1. Boston. Beth and I made a trip to Boston a few weeks back. We went for a weekend and visited Paul and Amber and got to spend some time with Cerissa and Eric as well. I was also able to meet with a few local pastors and talk about them supporting us and partnering with us in our efforts in reaching the North Shore. Kim Richardson and Danny Ovallie were the two guys who really encouraged me. Both come from different theological backgrounds and denominations but both have a dear heart for Christ and reaching people with the gospel. I am excited about jumping into war with these guys.
2. Vasectomy. Yup, I said it, I got them chopped. I'm 26 with 4 kids and without it, there was no end in sight. Its a little sad to know that it's it and there will be no more babies. However God is bigger than any procedure and plus, they say I got at least 20 more shots in me. From our experience, I got pretty good aim. haha. One other thing. LIARS LIARS LIARS. They tell you that this wont hurt and its easy. One of those in and out procedures. Well it is quick, but the effects are brutal. OUCH. It hurt bad bad bad bad. All the other things that I want to write are inappropriate so I will stop there.
3. Support. It continues to amaze me how God is providing for our church plant. God is continuing to provide opportunities for me to share our vision with people and talk to them about funding us. There is still much more work to be done, but the early fruits that we are seeing is a huge encouragement for us.
4. God speaks. I believe that I have heard the Lord on something that will require us to be more risky than we have ever had to be. However, Faith comes from hearing the word of God and standing on it. I feel like God has given me a promise but it will take major trust for me to see his promise come to pass. Please be praying for me as I discern God's will for our family and church plant. I have talked to many of my Pastors and Godly friends/mentors about this and all of them have encouraged me to take the risk.
5. Preaching. I had a chance to preach at OFY and a AME Zion district conference last month. It was amazing to see my kids from OFY. I missed them so much and it seemed that they missed me as well. I am so proud how these young kids are running after Christ and being radical for the Lord. It is pretty amazing how bold these kids are. Praying for random people, sharing the Gospel at every chance they get. It is both encouraging and convicting at the same time. At the AME conference, I got to preach on Acts 17 and the Sovereign Glory of our Transcendent God named Jesus and then the next day got to talk on SEX with the guys. That was fun as you can imagine. I did a Q&A time at the end in which one kid asked "What would happen if a human had sex with an animal?" My response was "You'd probably get hurt." I am still wondering if that was the right answer. ha ha. My second favorite question is a toss up between "Does sex feel good?" and "Is sex boring?" I responded with a quick "Yup" and "Nope" respectively and left it at that.
Wow, God is moving in an awesome way. I will say that raising money during the recession is a little crazy. While I would have never planned to do fund raising during the worst economy since the depression; God thought it would be a good idea. Here are a couple of updates.
1. We received our first check as a church plant over $5,000. It actually came from a team member who will be moving with us. The faithfulness and maturity of this individual is mind blowing, especially at barely over 20 years old. It was actually a total of $7,600. Praise God for providing.
2. I got an e-mail from Joe Polson who is a young man from Charlotte hat found us on the web. We have never met and had only 1 phone conversation together. He feels called to church planting and is praying about moving to Boston with Netcast Church. Only a huge God brings a random unity like that. Just recently he felt the Lord encouraging him to give part of his tithe to Netcast Church. Again, this young man's maturity at 23 years old is crazy.
3. Last month I had an opportunity to go to an event in Raleigh. It was an after hours gathering of the leaders and speakers from the Advance 09 Conference with guys like Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Danny Akin, Eric Mason, and many others. I was able to rub shoulders with some giants of the faith and learned a ton from my conversations with them. You can get the podcasted sessions from the conference at the Resurgence link on Itunes.
If you would be willing to send us a 1 time gift that will be put towards the matching contribution of a local businessman, please reply to this post with with your address. I will send you a pre-stamped return envelope so all you have to do is throw in a check and pop it in the mail. As long as the check is over $1 it would be a profit for us. We will take a gift of ANY amount. Remember it is all tax deductible. I really need your help in raising $20K in order to receive the full amount of the contribution.
Thank you all for being a friend to us and partnering with us as we are in this journey. Be praying for me, Beth, our kids, and the Netcast Team. Satan wants to steal our joy, kill our dreams and destroy God's work in us. Pray that we will stand like Ephesians 6 tells us to.
There has been some good and bad discussions that have been taking place in one of my latest posts. (We are all bent towards God) One thing that I am realizing is the unbelievable similarities that we all have. We all seem to have a belief system in which guides our thoughts, actions and ultimately our lives. We all hold tight to a philosophy; I may hold tight to the teachings of the bible and Christ following scholars while others may hold tight to the teachings of other books and Secular scholars. None-the-less, we are all being driven by information and logic that we hold dear to us.
The most noticeable thing that I am seeing is the difference in opinions on the following terms. Christian and Religion. On one occasion, someone labeled Hitler as a Christian (which according to my definition of a Christian, cannot be true) and on another occasion someone mocked people who are religious. I seem to have a very different opinion about the definitions of these two terms (Christian and Religious) than some of the people who read my blog. This brings up a couple of very important questions. What is a Christian and what constitutes being religious? I will address one of them below.
Lets start with Religion. In the comments that I receive, it is very obvious that we tend to view religion as a belief in God. Try telling that to a Unitarian or Buddhist. Unitarian Universalists believe in spirituality but not God. Buddhist' do not believe in God at all, but ultimately a pursuit of happiness. Religion cannot be a belief system in God because not all religions believe in God. Instead, religion is a set of answers to the major questions concerning our existence. Religion sets out to answer questions like: Why are we here? How did we get here? What is our purpose in life? What happens after we die? Within those questions, most religions tend to lean on an answer that includes God or Spirituality but other religions do not.
In essence, all belief systems are religious beliefs. None of us are exempt of religion and being religious. Some religions gather for worship, others do not. Some religions hold to sacred literature, others do not. Some religions worship science, knowledge, intellect, and uncertainty while others worship God as creator and Jesus as Savior. Similar to us all being religious; we are also all worshippers. By worship I mean, holding something as ultimate in our lives. Those things can be money, sex, family, God, intellect, knowledge, our image, security, Jesus, morality, and the list can go on forever. (Again, that is based upon my defination of worship.)
The thing that bothers me is that the agnostic and atheist will arrogantly point the finger at someone like me for being religious, without having the humility to admit that the very thing that pushes them to label me as religious is their own set of beliefs, which in themselves are religious beliefs (That was a run-on sentence I think.) According to my definition above, I am religious…but so are you. Lets try not to avoid the FACT that the same things that drive me are the same things that drive you. A set of beliefs. Even to say that you dont believe anything, is still a belief.
Before I talk about my definition of the word Christian; I would first like to hear your definition. I am specifically talking to the following people (Brian, Drew, Edgar, Paul) but would also like for others to chime in if you have a chance. Feel free to answer anonymous if you'd like.
* how did you come to an understanding of the culture you were called to and how have you been bringing the gospel into the culture (what strategies)?
1. Intentionally engage your culture. In order to understand your culture, you have to live where they live, eat where they eat, travel how they travel, and play where they play. 2. Go where the people you want to reach are. Their park, bus, mall, movie theater, restaurants. 3. You first have to understand the people who you seek to reach. You can't be on mission to reach a culture you don’t know.
* how has God reshaped your theology/thinking to make you more missional (theological growth question)?
1. Live out the gospel message in your own life so that when it is time to help shape others, your not faking it.
* if you were to restart your church plant to be more missional what would you do (practical question)?
1. Write down examples of your own life when you were living out the mission and saw success. Keep that in front of you and in a format to be able to easily disperse it among people who may need it. Keep examples of how you were able to bridge the gospel in all sorts of categories. (at a ball game, at a public park, on a train or bus, in the gym, etc. 2. Train your team to engage with purpose.
Missional Strategy Interview: Stephen Wagner - Lead Pastor 1.21 Church
* how did you come to an understanding of the culture you were called to and how have you been bringing the gospel into the culture (what strategies)?
I completely understood the culture in Miami and Buckhead/Atlanta. I completely misread the culture in Cambridge. It took me 18 months of discouraging work to figure this out. We basically had to bring the gospel through personal relationships and meeting needs. A very secular place, environment.
* how has God reshaped your theology/thinking to make you more missional (theological growth question)?
Interacting with other church planters who understand the multidimensional nature of the gospel and kingdom.Interacting with Tim Keller over the years. Wide reading and study of the scriptures.
* if you were to restart your church plant to be more missional what would you do (practical question)?
1. Pray more and consistently and spend high quality time recruiting and training people to prayer. John Smed in Vancouver is a good resource. 2. Finding creative ways, mercy, creative arts etc to build friendships in the community and teaching people to do this. 3. Innovative ways of building half way houses, creative first steps in interesting people in the gospel
* how have you grown people to missional maturity (discipleship strategy)?
I did better in Miami and Atlanta, poorer in Cambridge. To do it again in Cam, I would select potential leaders, spend time in study interactive times, mentoring.
* how have you helped men to become missional in their marriages, families and professions
Same as above
* what has been your strategy to evangelize lost people?
Building community, relationships, half way events, like Redeemer’s “Open Forum.” Alfa courses.
* how did you come to an understanding of the culture you were called to and how have you been bringing the gospel into the culture (what strategies)?
1. First you have to answer this question: "If your a happy pagan, why should you feel the need to go to church?" 2. One of the ways we brought the gospel to the culture is by making everything explainable. In order to be effective we had to lose the religious language and define meanings rather than assume people know the lingo. 3. Put together intellectual presentations in a way that is easy to understand. In an area like Boston, education is important, therefore, it is also important to present Gospel truths in intellectual ways. 4. One way to get a cultural temperature is by asking non-church people questions. Ask random people random questions that will help me understand their thought process. 5. Explain the gospel in terms of freedom. Keep in mind that although lost people feel free, they are really addicted and in bondage. 6. IMPORTANT: The main issue is unbelief. The reason why Christians and Non-Christians rebel is because of unbelief. Unbelief if the meeting ground where both Christians and non-Christians are on the same playing field.
* if you were to restart your church plant to be more missional what would you do (practical question)?
1. Be a church plant with a plan of planting a sister church within three years. 3. Never let a fear of losing people hinder your advancement of moving the Kingdom forward. Make Kingdom decisions and not decisions that will sustain the life of our church plant. 2. Be intentional of raising leaders within your church to do the ministry. 4. Possibly have a potential church planter involved from the beginning.
* how have you grown people to missional maturity (discipleship strategy)?
1. From the beginning, have a focus on the entire community and not just your church plant. 2. Emphasize the importance of Christians living as an ambassador at their jobs. Training people that their main mission field is where they spend most of their day which is typically at work. 3. Fight the typically process of someone becoming a Christian and ditching all of their non-believing friends. Never let the non-believing friend fall away from the friendship. 4. All believers should have at least 5 non-believing friends who they are living in relationship with in order to show them the gospel through their life.
* how have you helped men to become missional in their marriages, families and professions
1. Hard question to answer. Rebel against the mainstream culture of "boys will be boys" and hold men accountable.
* what has been your strategy to evangelize lost people?
1. Evangelize Christians and non-Christians the same. The gospel fights against those who think they are in good standing with God because of their morality and the gospel fights against sin by bringing forgiveness and freedom. 2. Paganism is a sin just as much as salvation through religion is a sin. People need to repent of both. 3. Life Evangelism is the way to reach people. People need to be seen living out the gospel with the fruit of the gospel being evident in their life.
Notes from Interview with Michael Keller @ Redeemer in NYC College Ministry
Well it's been some time since I was regularly writing on my blog. I guess I have been tied up with life. New baby, summer, work, and church plant seem to have me very busy these days. Anyway, at 6:00am this morning, I woke up to feed my new son Jacob only to get yacked on. Not a bad way to start the morning. So since I was up, I decided to get downstairs and get into the word. I have been studying Acts 17 where Paul visits Athens. It’s a great text. Anyway, I was intrigued by this question that kept popping into my head.
Why are we all bent towards spiritual things and worship?
It is hard to argue that that isn't the case. All throughout history, every culture, nationality, tribe, people group, and generation has had a bent towards spiritual things. From the ancient philosophers in Greece, to the earliest days of the Bible, all the way to today; spirituality and worship has been a vibrant part of life. Now, it has not always been a bent towards Christ and the God of the bible, but always something that is infinitely greater and more powerful than in which can bring us purpose and meaning. It typically has been a God that is personal in which we can either know "it" or "it" knows us. This is a weird concept that is imbedded in our DNA that I cannot understand or explain away. Even the atheist or agnostic cannot move away from having at the least, an opinion of God. To have an opinion of God, at the least, means that the clashing atoms of ones brain acknowledges the need to make a thoughtful decision of whether God does or does not exist; hence a bent toward the spiritual. I am also troubled with this thought; if my brain thinks it or craves it; is that proof that it exists? For example; because my body is hungry; that is proof of food. And my sexual desire is proof of sexual gratification through sexual intimacy. Is the same true that my desire for the spiritual mean that the spiritual exists? Where else do I crave or feel a need to make an opinion on something that does not exist? Is that even possible?
Like the Athenians, I am very religious and bent towards worship. By worship I mean, make things ultimate in my life in order to bring purpose. At times that ultimate thing has been different. My list consists or basketball, sex, my image, family, knowledge, and Christ. My goal is to still pursue all of those things, but keep Christ as ultimate. The other things on my list although good and satisfying; have made crappy Gods.
Just wanted to send out a quick update about Netcast Church.
My coaching sessions with Acts 29 have been going great thus far. We are so excited to be learning from them and have them walk us through this process.
This weeks update is that our new website is finally up and running. On it you can see a video about our church, a little bio on our 2 pastors (myself and Steve shomo) and tons about Boston and our mission. I would encourage all of you to take 3 minutes to browse through it and let us know what you think. http://www.netcastchurch.org/
A special thanks goes out to Paul and Amber Shomo for both purchasing and designing this website for us. It was an honor to have them support us in this way. Another thanks goes to Evan Booth and Joseph who helped design our logo and condense the content. Please join me in thanking these guys for supporting us as well. They are very busy people and excellent at what they do, so it was a real blessing to have their help. They worked hard for us without asking for a penny. Thank you guys.
Some of you who are reading this have committed to sending a financial contribution. Thank you for that and I am so excited to see how God will be using your funds for his glory and the growth of his Kingdom. For information on where to send checks and who to make them out to; check out the "Timeline and Needs" page on http://www.netcastchurch.org/
I am praying to be fully financially supported by the end of the year. It will take a miracle for that to happen. But I believe in miracles. Per my previous e-mail, we are currently asking for 20 non-family members to give $1000 in order for us to receive the full matching donation from a local businessman. I believe that God has called us to do this, so I do not feel anxious for asking for the support.
On another note, we just had a new baby. Jacob Matthew Chewning was born June 6th at 9:24pm. Mom and Baby are doing great. That's #4 for us. Our family is doing great, growing like crazy. You can check out photo's on Facebook. Take a minute to pray for us as we continue our journey towards a church plant in Boston.
So there has been some really neat conversation going on under my previous blog. This is a different type of post. Something that happened to us yesterday.
We were on our way home from chilling with the in-laws and we noticed a bad accident ahead of us. There was a women about 400lbs lying in the middle of the road. I hopped out of the car and ran ahead only to see that a SUV T-boned a van. The Mexican in the van was fine but the people in the SUV were in bad shape. One lady most likely broke her leg. The really big lady in the road fell out of the far upon impact and seemed to be in pretty bad shape. She was saying that she couldn't feel her legs. I got up close to her and began asking her some questions. She was responding fine. The Cops were not there yet and by this time there was a nice gathering of people by now.
The lady asked if I was a doctor and I informed her no but I was a Christian. I said all I can do is pray for you. Then some black women said, "Yes, that's why I ran up here as well." So, we together began to pray that the accident want worse than it was, we prayed for healing, restoration, and that God would make his name great through this." Then the paramedics got there and told us to move out of the way.
Isn't it cool how in this particular moment, God's people were first on the scene. I started to wonder, Isn't that our job? We hold the keys to life. We have access to the ultimate healer, the King who created life and rose his body from death. This was just another time, where God wanted to show off so he sent 2 believers who never met before and will probably never meet again to be first on the scene of a crisis.
To claim that there is no Absolute truth is in itself a statement in which the teller is claiming to have an absolute truth. Therefore, by its own grounds makes no sense at all. To claim that there is no absolute truth is just as controversial and faith based as claiming that Jesus is the Truth. The question cannot be whether or not there is an exclusive absolute truth, rather the question should be "Which exclusive claim of truth produces the most inclusive and loving behavior?" The answer to that is seen only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ who claimed to be God and died the substutationary death for our sin. This is what CS Lewis called the "Great Exchange". Where Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin, paid our penalty by absorbing the wrath of God on the cross, so that we may become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5)
Real orthodox belief in that TRUTH can only produce a following of the same example which is just about as inclusive and loving as one can be. The gospel paints a picture of loving those who should not be loved and accepting those who should not be excepted. Christianity is the only religion that makes those claims. True Biblical Christianity also assumes that non-Christians are no worse than Christians; because Christianity is not about being moral, rather it is about recognizing your sinfulness but being justified by Christ. Looking at life and the world through this gospel lens, can only create peace and a non-judgmental attitude from the believer. If that is not the case; which often times it isn't, the believer is not really looking at life through the true orthodox gospel lens. In conclusion, True Christianity is an exclusive belief that produces inclusive behaviors which is bent towards love. Every belief, even is the belief claims that there is no truth, is a belief in truth.
How does this effect me: I no longer feel the need to intelectually prove my belief over someone else's. No belief can be fully proven, all beliefs are an act of faith. Truth be told, I cannot prove anything, it is only the Spirit that bears witness to Jesus Christ, not my crafty words or intelligence. Instead, I now feel the freedom to just put my belief in the same pool of every other belief BUT....knowing that my belief produces the most inclusive and loving behaviors. In the end, I need to do a better job at looking at the Gospel of Christ and allow the gospel to transform my life so that when people see me they will praise my Father in heaven. That is why character is so important.
There is someone who is very special to our family who needs our prayers. She is a teacher at our kids preschool and has taught both Daniel and Abby. She was probably their favorite teacher at the school in their 3 years attending. Shhhhh, don’t tell the other teachers.
Anyway, here is her note to us. Her name is Donna.
I would like to ask you and Beth to keep me in your prayers. On June 3rd, I am having a small tumor removed from my pancreas. It is cancer....but NOT pancreatic cancer. I am not expected to need chemo or radiation. I am thankful that this has been caught very early!!! So, we have been on a bit of a scary medical journey the last couple of months.
Pray that the Lord will do a miracle in her body. That she would have a supernatural, God Ordained, recovery and even that she would be healed. I believe in the Holy Spirits ability to heal on the spot. It is OK to pray for that. I know a good amount of people blog stalk and keep up to date on what's going on, so if you would be so kind and ask Jesus to move on behalf Donna and her family, it would be awesome
I just wanted to show off the Lord Jesus Christ real quick. I have become a firm believer that the Lord is telling the truth when he says "I will build my church." As most of you know, we have been going through the Acts 29 assessment process which we have passed through and are now being coached by a pastor in the New England area. The next phase of our church plant has been fundraising and building a team. Let me update you with a couple of financial miracles that has just stirred my soul.
1. I was given an incentive by the CEO of my company to raise money. He has offered to do a matching grant of up to $10K. He is willing to match 50% (up to $500) per family, church, or organization. The person can not be a relative and money has to be raised by October 31st. In essence I need 20 people / organizations to give $1000 in order to receive the full amount.
2. My brother-in-law has offered to purchase and design our website $1000 minimum gift not including the labor and expertise.
3. I had coffee with a local pastor in town today who told me that he was prompted to give me $1000 towards the church plant. It was the first time that I met him and I never asked him for money. He is sending a check shortly.
4. A team member who will be moving with us to plant was just given a large inheritance and will be tithing that income to our church plant. Are you kidding me? The person who passed away was a believer. Praise God.
5. I received an e-mail from a believer in NC who I have never met before. Someone who I occasionally work with mentioned that she knew some crazy young man who was moving his family to Boston to plant a church (that would be us). She literally asked me about what we are doing, if she could be a prayer partner, where she could send a check, and who to make it out to. I never asked her for a dime. Jesus just moved on our behalf. When I told her about some of the things that have happened recently this was her response. Remember that we never met before, however she is a part of the Body of Christ and we are united by the Gospel.
Matt,
I have been praying for your ministry, on a daily basis. When Wanda first told me about your ministry I felt led to start praying for you and your family. I have asked all of my siblings to do the same - there are 7 of us all together. They live from Jersey to Florida. What a blessing! God is so very good to us. He always throws in a couple of surprises. Don't really know why we are surprised because we know he does these things all of the time. You could write a book on the past three years that would be a great inspiration to many individuals that are struggling with a church or starting a church. Can't wait to read it.
God Richly Bless you and your family,
Delores
6. I am meeting with a pastor in town who leads an Evangelical Covenant church in Greensboro. The meeting is on Wednesday and he wants to talk about supporting us.
Just thought I would share; these are major miracles, especially in today's economy. If I had to chose a time to try and raise money, it would not be during the recession of 2009. However, God is faithful and will build his church. Pray that we will continue to never get ahead of what the Lord is doing and instead, follow his lead. If you would like to financially support us; please ask the Lord to give you the courage to have the generosity that it takes. I fully understand that it would be a huge sacrifice. I really love all of you and are so thankful to be able to show off what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing in the life of our church plant in Greater Boston. I am literally in tears today while writing this to you.
There is a challenge going around out there in the "Blogging / Twitter" world with this as it's topic.
"In 140 characters, how can you twitter the gospel?"
I guess you can only use 140 characters on twitter. I am about to take a stab at it and then explain it. I know that I have a decent amount of people who read the blog so I would love some other people to take a stab at it. It'd be a pretty cool exercise.
Attempt 1
"The Gospel is that God saves Sinners." - JI Packer
Attempt 2
"The Gospel, is that Christ died for our sins according to Scripture, he was buried, and he was raised on the 3rd day. Look and believe." (1 Cor 15 & John 3)
Not sure if we can come up with anything more basic and true than either one of those 2 statements. In essence these are both very practical and basic, but profoundly theological.
1. Deep down, we all have a sense of our own sin. Nobody needs to convince us (believer or un-believer) that we have sin in our lives.
2. A high majority of people believe that there is a God somewhere who is personal. That God is capable of anything.
3. 97% of human population know about Jesus and the effects of the cross. (Much less people believe)
4. Theologically it is God who saves us from our sin by faith through Christ alone. Not our morality or actions.
5. God does all the work including giving us the grace and faith in order to accept his grace by faith.
6. The Gospel is received through belief. No added verb is needed. Christ's work was finished on the cross and nothing needs to be added to it. Works is a fruit of the belief; not anything else.
So I'm coming home 2 days ago from an appointment about 45 minutes away from my house. While on the highway, I hear a nice sized smack while going about 60 MPH. I look in my rear view and it looked like I either ran over something or someone threw a show at my car. I blow it off as if it were nothing.
That is until I get home. When I got home, the entire front parking light from my Volvo S80 is missing. I guess the things just decided it was time to leave and find something else to do with its life.
I must say that I was pretty bummed. I don't have the best car in the world, its got a lot of miles and the sun-roof has sopped working; No to mention that I had a similar experience happen with my gas cover last year. Things just seem to like to fly off of my car for no apparent reason.
Then something cool happens. I got a call from a a company that was looking for some some office furniture to furnish 3 offices that they just built. On their way into their office, the walk past my car and I notice them looking at my headlight. Pretty embarrassed, I acted like it wasn't my car. After they come in, we get the talking and they own Tri-City Auto Salvage. Nonetheless, I get an e-mail from the owner who says "I got a 99 Volvo S80 Front Left Parking Light for you, should be delivered in a week. No Charge!"
Praise God who will provide even parking lights. Whats the freakin chance of that?
The entire month of April has been a rough one for me spiritually. In March I did a 30 Days with Jesus where I felt that God was so close and that I was feeling Jesus literally move in my life. I was experiencing victory over temptation, I was experiencing supernatural wisdom and revelation when I was in God's word, I was enjoying the presence of God during corporate worship on Sunday's.
Then April hit. Its been a tough month spiritually. I have struggled to be consistent in the word, although I did memorize all of Psalm 1 this month. I've felt like the word has been harder to understand this month, I felt like Christ has departed, and temptation seems much more attractive than it has in previous months.
I was sharing this with someone this week and he dropped a line to me that I had never though of before. This is what he said. "Those moments when God seems so far are just as Holy and God ordained as the ones when God seems so close."
Psalm 13 says:
How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
It seems that David has felt exactly what I have been experiencing. Praise God for being so close at the time when he feels so far. Thank you for your promise that you will NEVER leave me or forsake me. Although you see far at times, I know in my heart that you are not far at all. That is your promise to me. (Matthew 28, Joshua 1:9, and many more) One thing I ask and one thing that I seek, is that I could dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life....how awesome would that be. One day it will come. However, for now, cherish the moments when God feels close and trust that he is close when he feels far.
Christ's closeness is not based on our feelings and experiences; but instead on his promise.
I have been obsessed with the Psalms lately. Every time I pick up my bible, that is the first thing that I go to. Recently I have been meditating on Psalm 1.
Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
There are three huge principles that are in here and they are defining for every believer. They define Gods progressive growth in all of his people in the most accurate way. Then again, why would that surprise me; it is God who wrote the book.
Point 1: Influence
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
Who is influencing you? Is it your husband, wife, friends, or Jesus? You and I do not have an excuse to blame our spiritual state on our church, our friends, our spouse, our schedule, or anyone else except ourselves. Who is influencing you? Who do you need to intentionally pursue in order to connect with Christ and grow in your faith? If your not happy with your relationship with Christ; grow up and do the hard work. Your not a baby who drinks milk; you should be eating meat by now.
Point 2: The Word.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
You will never spiritually grow in your walk with Christ without scripture. Over and Over again, the bible speaks of itself as the one and only way to knowing God in his fullest state. We have got to read the bible in order to know God. And...it is not enough to read it. STUDY IT!! Learn about what God is trying to say in his word. MEMORIZE IT!! How are you supposed to meditate on the word of God when you don't have any of it memorized? How are you supposed to fight sin and Satan without the word embedded in your brain? It takes work; I know. PRAY IT! The bible says to pray according to Gods will. How are you supposed to pray according to Gods will aside from his word? Its impossible.
Point 3: Righteousness by faith alone.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
If you are still working to be Good than you will never be righteous. On your best day God says you are nothing but filthy rags. However, through faith in Christ and what was accomplished on the cross; you can be made righteous and holy. This is good and bad news. Bad because there is nothing that you can do about your spiritual state. Good because you never again have to get down on yourself for not trying hard enough. The goal is not to try harder; instead the goal is to look closer....closer to Christ. Look to him and believe.
Time will tell if your belief is real. Are you growing? Are you convicted of sin? Do you love Christ deeply? Is he beautiful to you?
To claim that there is no Absolute truth is in itself a statement in which the teller is claiming to have an absolute truth. Therefore, by its own grounds makes no sense at all. To claim that there is no absolute truth is just as controversial and faith based as claiming that Jesus is the Truth. The question cannot be whether or not there is an exclusive absolute truth, rather the question should be "Which exclusive claim of truth produces the most inclusive and loving behavior?" The answer to that is seen only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ who claimed to be God and died the substutationary death for our sin. This is what CS Lewis called the "Great Exchange". Where Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin, paid our penalty by absorbing the wrath of God on the cross, so that we may become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5)
