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!