Use of the Old Testament to Explain Current Events

An unbelieving world is watching and we can be very confusing in speaking where God is silent. For example, Job is meant to be instructive with regard to how to grieve and handle sorrow, not on why the grief happened. It is clearly instructive on one and not the other. We must be faithful to explain the scriptures in light of the scriptures themselves, not interpreting with the goal of speaking into modern events, where God has clearly been silent. If not, we are no different than Job's friends applying cherry-picked verses to match unknown circumstances.

9 Reasons I'm Thankful for My Wife on Our 9th Anniversary

I married way out of my league and I know it. Lindsey is my best friend, confidant, and the greatest blessing God has ever given to me in my life. Here are just a few of the reasons why. 

1. She believes in grace.

When I make mistakes, which is often, Lindsey believes in grace. She believes in it in the tangibly difficult moments just as much as she does in the easy moments. I can't tell you how many times my voice has come crawling through the telephone lines or through the thick, tension wrought air I've brought in from a bad moment and her grace has burst through to bring life giving grace and hope. She believes that our marriage is for forever and that so is God's grace to us all.

2. She works hard so that I can work hard.

My wife chose to put aside her college degree in order to take care of our home and our children. Because she does so well in the home, I have been able to focus on my schoolwork and education, as well as ministry at our church. There are some wives who are so terribly needy that their husband can barely focus on what he needs to do. Lindsey strives to let me work in relative peace and quiet. Working from home and on the same floor as the children makes this an large task and constant challenge, but she excels at it.

3. Lindsey puts others ahead of herself.

I have often seen Lindsey get a bit of extra money from a sale, couponing, or budgeting and turn around and use the money on others. It wasn't too far into our marriage that I learned that I cannot give Lindsey gift cards or cash, because she will often use those things on gifts for the kids and I or others. Her love for others is evident in the way she sacrificially gives away what she wants (even at times her own dreams) so others can have what they need.

4. She is a constant source of encouragement

Lindsey knows exactly how to encourage me. Along the course of our marriage, we have lived in privilege and traveled internationally with fine dining and we've struggled to pay the light bill and ate ramen noodles. We've experienced harsh disappointments, but my beloved has never left my side or ceased to encourage me. She believes in me and constantly lets me know it. I don't just think, I know, that i would not be the man I am today or where I am if not for the love and support of my wife.

5. She's not a princess, she's a queen.

When we first got married, I called Lindsey a princess and was quickly chastised for it. Princesses are damsels in distress who rarely get their hands dirty. They are often spoiled and rarely contribute. She didn't want to be a damsel in distress. She was a daughter of a King, but she wanted to love and support someone in their reign over our own castle. She wanted to be a queen. She is my warrior queen, fighting alongside me for our marriage, our family, and for the great Gospel of Jesus Christ to go out. She carries herself cautiously and regally, lovingly exalting those around her, yet maintaining grace and poise. She doesn't demand for herself, but thinks of others. It is often I find her burdened and thinking to pray for one soul or another. Her own comfort is often thrown aside for the good of the children and she doesn't talk about fairness.

6. She is beautiful and doesn't know it.

In a culture obsessed with waist-size, photoshopped realities, and six pack abs, classic beauty has been thrown out in favor of shifting perceptions of  what is beautiful. Lindsey looks in the mirror, magazines, and stores and sees what she thinks the world sees. But if she could see what I see, she'd take down the mirrors. She's strikingly and stunningly beautiful. Just ask her, I can't walk by her without stealing a kiss or an embrace. She's amazing and she doesn't even see it, which is a real shame, because I can't stop staring. She's a beauty in every way, inside and out and my love for her grows daily. 

7. She's lived on her own

Lindsey lived in Lille, France for 9 months before we were married. She's been the one making choices, waking herself up for her responsibilities, discovering a new culture, and becoming immersed in a land/culture/language unknown to her. Honestly, this made marrying her all the easier. It meant that this angelic beauty could walk into a bachelor's world and learn to navigate a man-child's heart as we became one. It meant that as I was still discerning God's calling on my heart, would be able to walk head-held high with me, knowing that we'd adapt as we went. She's fiercely independent and tremendously loyal. She needs nothing but her God, yet chooses to be with all her call her family and friend.   

8. Lindsey is creative (the understatement of the year)

Lindsey is the Macgyver of crafting. when we were first married, before children, she would craft for hours, spinning golden treasures from trinkets and thread. Once kids came along, her focus shifted, but the creativity and crafting did not cease. Where her focus had once been jewelry, her focus became more children specific or items to adorn a home. As our budget for crafting dramatically decreased, Lindsey's creativity increased. She would find "treasure" at the city dump, Goodwill, yard sales, or on the side of the road, and with hours of lost sleep amidst the draws of 3 children, she would find time to turn these items into the things that people admire so much about our home. Lindsey's creativity has made so many houses turn into homes, and she uses that ability and vision to bless our family and others as well.

9. Lindsey has prioritized the kingdom of God over her personal comfort.

9 years ago, when we said our vows, Lindsey told me, quoting Ruth: Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.

Lindsey meant those words then and still means them now. We have lived in 1 apartment, 4 houses, and 4 cities in 9 years. We've talked at great length about her hopes and dreams. Where she'd like to live, what her ideal house would look like. Accumulating wealth and establishing comfort has never been a top priority for her. Instead, she cares much more deeply about relationships and about God’s kingdom than her own comfort. People are more important than things to her, and I respect that about her, even when asking her to move to places not her choosing to love and invest in people she has never met. Her desire to obey God outweighs her desire for comfort, in all of the forms it presents itself in our world. She's a-maz-ing.

I won't say I couldn't be more thankful, because I'm sure I miss more than I see, but these past nine years have been the best of my life. I love you and look forward to what God has in store for us down the road. Happy anniversary, Lindsey!

Leftovers

I've never been a fan of leftovers. Growing up, entire meals would consist of a few bites of spaghetti, cornbread, chili, hot dogs, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, and potato soup. You would take a few bites of each to make your meal and I would often wonder why we didn't just throw out the leftovers since there was only a small quantity of each item. My stomach may be filled by the assortment of food, but my heart was empty at the thought of it. I remained ungrateful for the provision, because it wasn't in the way that I had wanted it.

There are few things in life more disgusting than ungratefulness. Everyone hates the child who decries one hard earned gift for the love of another or the beggar who complains of the provided meal. This ungratefulness is not new to our Western society, nor to our modern times. One need not far to find this same attitude in the people of God in the wilderness. Out of slavery and death by the mighty hand of God, fed daily with manna by Him, this is the response of the people:

"Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, "Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.  But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Numbers 11:4-6


They were ungrateful for God's provision and they most certainly didn't want leftovers. But it seems that God views leftovers differently, and by His grace I am beginning to see them differently too. Often, God uses leftovers to show His abundant provision and clear, powerful, miraculous presence in our lives. Just read Matthew 14:13-21 to see an example of this. 
Last night my wife, Lindsey, took squash from our garden, leftover chopped onions from a church function, and made a delicious squash casserole. It rivaled my grandmother's squash. She also handmade turkey meatballs, fixed sweet tea, and cornbread for us. There made so much that even after second helpings, there was plenty left over. Today for lunch, I had some of the leftovers (ok, all of it) and it was delicious. The leftovers today taught me 2 important lessons: 
1) My wife loves me very much and made extra so that our family could be full and satisfied. 
2) God's abundant provision is often missed when I am focused on looking for new things instead of enjoying what God has already given. His leftovers are so much better than the first fruits of the world. 

Scriptural Principles on Human Governent by J. Budziszewski

I have been a huge fan of J. Budziszewski ever since a professor of mine loaned me a copy of What We Can't Not Know to help redeem the time on a 10 hour flight for a missions trip. One of the most influential and profound books for me at the time and still a treasured work to this day. I admired Dr. B so much that I included him in my thesis on Natural Law and he graciously agreed to a phone interview and gave me advice that I still cling to today.

I just recently came across 10 Scriptural Principles on Human Government gleaned from Budziszewski's latest work on Justin Taylor's blog. If you're interested in reading what the Bible has to say concerning human government, this i an excellent resource. Check it out here.

If you're interested in learning more about Natural Law from the Christian perspective, here are 2 clips. The Short One and the More Detailed One. Enjoy!

Need encouragement as a pastor?

I stumbled upon this video today and was thoroughly blessed by it as a pastor still learning to navigate the waters of pastoral ministry. The tenure of the minister, the changing of the people under the proclamation of God's Word, and the growth (albeit painful) of the congregation in both size and godliness were very encouraging. I hope it blesses you too.

Where I've Been Walking

I haven't written much lately. It hasn't been for lack of writing or for the lack of something worth saying, I've simply been writing and saying things elsewhere. I am now an under-shepherd to an amazing flock. I once idolized and romanticized the idea of being a pastor. Now I see the truth of the position and love it all the more for the rich, beauty that it holds.

I have been daily humbled and brought low by the preaching of the Gospel to myself. Greater men than I have walked this path and fallen, yet some have stayed the course and I have been trying to listen, observe and prayerfully seek what God would have me do as a pastor. I need to be reminded of my own need, daily, for Jesus Christ.Becoming a pastor has been one of the greatest blessings I have known. I love how deeply I am allowed to study God's Word and how it is an endearing quality to my flock that I get closer to God. What other position in life encourages you daily to seek out the Lord and spend as much time with him as possible. And not only that, I am encouraged and expected to walk in on some of the most intimate moments of people's lives in order to breathe the fresh air of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the situation. I may walk into grave moments, but I am privileged to carry the light and life of the Gospel wherever I go.

1 Corinthians 15:58 instructs us to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Whenever I walk into our church, a hospital room, the grocery store, an individual's home, I must remember, if I go in the name and power of the Lord, whatever I say and do is not in vain, even if the results are not what I was hoping. The same grace that saved me when many wondered if this wild haired boy was able to be saved, extends to the most depraved crack addict and idolatrous kleptomaniac.

Moving here has not been easy, but it has been entirely worth it. The people are worth investing in, because they are God's people. I don't know exactly what the Lord may do, but I know He's got children here in this community and I aim to find them and bring them out to our weekly family gatherings. God's family is worth fighting for. I'll just have to keep walking the highways and bi-ways, praying that God will use our church to find them and lovingly bring them into the fold.

The two Matts

I am two individuals. Not bi-polar. Not a twin. Not part of a bad sci-fi movie experiment gone wrong. Instead, I am a human bring who understands what it means to be in Christ, yet not with Him in a glorified state. I am speaking of Romans 7:14-25 and I am speaking of every day of my life. I desire to do good things...godly things. I desire for my actions and words and thoughts to all be pleasing sacrifices to God that honor Him and reflect the glory of His name to the whole world. As anyone who knows me can knowingly exclaim, that is not always the case.

When I read Paul's words here, I recognize that Paul believes that a Christian desires to obey God's law and hates his sin (v. 15, 19, 21) and this person is willing to acknowledge that nothing good dwells in themselves apart from Christ himself. (v. 18) While there is great sin there, that is not all, because this person serves King Jesus with His mind. (v. 25)

I think that through the process of life, we often feel like this, yet know that the transformation must be completed, no matter how painful. I once a poster on my bedroom wall that I had found at a Christian book store. I would stare at it often as I fell asleep having the work resonate with my daily experiences.

The reality is, as we are sanctified through the daily, no...minute-by-minute work of the Holy Spirit we are faced with the reality that we take off our old filthy rags and are clothed in new, brilliant garments of Christ's righteousness. But we have worn those old clothes for so long, they are intertwined with our very being. Taking off the old ways and clothes takes the skin. If not for finding our new identity in Christ, I dare say that we would feel as if we were losing our being, but not so. if we are in Christ, we are new men and though the process is painful, Yahweh the Warrior goes to battle for me daily, helping me to die to self and live for Him.

What a joyous thought!