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pastorMATT
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Name: matt
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Birthday: 10/5/1976
Gender: Male
Interests: watching and praying, repenting, exfoliating, jamming on my guitar, reading books
Expertise: drivin vans, cleanin churches, taking orders from my boss and the band.
Occupation: Education/training
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
10/21/2003
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| I guess a Xanga entry is long overdue....
So, I've been thinking, more like praying, about this time for awhile. You come to realize that life truly is a journey. So many different detours, road bumps, thrills, pleasures. You begin to realize that the end of one phase in life is simply the beginning of another.
When you invest in something, it is hard to give it away. Gosh, I can't imagine the pains of parenthood. You miss being able to be around the things that you had grown accustomed to. You miss the memories.
But more than dwelling on the past, I'm excited. I've been in the presence of greatness. I truly believe that. My hope is in the work of His grace that "He who began a good work will carry it out to completion." I'm starting to grasp the notion that with maturity comes the ability to rejoice in the success of others. Therefore, somewhere in my tears and prayers, the joy dominates the sorrow. Dark purple turns light yellow (if you know your color wheel).
What can I say? I'll always treasure being able to partner with the recent 2007 college grads as we serve the King whole-heartedly. I should keep this short lest the yellow returns. THANK YOU, CLASS OF 07 for all the past joy that you have brought to me, as well as the future joy I will cheerish as I watch greatness continue to unfold and wreak havoc in the world. GOD BLESS. YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS and thanks for helping JCA to get out of the batter's box. Pray for us, please.
Your friend.
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| i'm on the front end of a 2-week vision trip to vietnam and china. yesterday we met a pastor who oversees 2400 churches and over 435,000
christians (not a misprint). his story is amazing.
he was in prison for almost 2 years early on in his ministry. it is
true what we see in the book of acts. wherever there is christian
persecution, the gospel only advances stronger! maybe i should pray
for persecution and prison for jca! may people like prisca and dan ra take one for the team, hahahaaha. just kidding. but i
wonder how i'd react if something like that happened. also, every time
i'm overseas i realize how much people had to pay a price for the
gospel to enter a family, a church, an entire nation. it is so
refreshing to see christians who know nothing else besides a life fully
committed to serving the Lord.
today (friday) was a packed day. we flew to hanoi where APEC is holding their gathering for the next few days. the international spotlight will be on hanoi. i believe george bush will be here? so i heard. we were able to attend a Bible school's graduation tonight. it was powerfully blessing as we heard each graduate share about what God has done in their lives and to see how much love they had for their country Vietnam. i wish we would so passionate about evangelism and worship in our country.
i love vietnamese food! i definitely gained a few unwanted pounds. they treat pastors like kings here. maybe jca should determine future mission projects based on food. =)
please continue to pray for the ami pastors here. it is always good to be around other guys who are visionaries and have been faithful in ministry for so long. i'm especially looking forward to rooming the next few days with pastor graydon who is a pastor of a mega-church in california. he is 65-years old, has 4 kids, been married for over 40 years, and has a bundle of energy.
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| have you ever picked up something that you desperately needed to work, only to find that it doesn't? so i decide to use an electric razor for the first time in 10 years. still in its original, unopened box of 4 years. darn thing doesn't work. i'm almost late for morning prayer. i reach to grab my trustworthy manual razor. it is as dull and powerless as my detroit lions.
for the past couple of weeks, i've been restless. fine line b/w holy dissatisfaction and unholy dissatisfaction. definitely unholy. but it all came together this morning. just like a razor, christians need to be sharp and ready at any given moment. i want to be sharp......
i'm getting a renewed hunger for the Word, prayer, leadership training, serving, and just plain dying for the Lord. good 'ole days. you truly can't change the spots on a leopard. i can't change my nature. want to be sharper.
at any given moment, someone needs me to be sharp, to have brought my "A" game. so much at stake. ministry, relationships, problems. after a moment of prayer and dedication, i frantically scribe endless meetings and events in my calendar. somewhere below my weary, wrinkled eyes, a smile begins to take shape.....
woooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gotta love it!
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| i haven't xanga-ed in 19 months. today was an ego-crushing day. i took 3 IQ tests. the first one was 2 hours long and i didn't understand the format of it so let's just say i didn't score that well. i was so unnerved that i took another 2 tests that are held in good regard.
i started feeling better about myself when i scored a 117 IQ. not bad, but not up to the 130 area that i thought i'd get. ordinarily, i'd accept my score and move on, but josh kim comes into the library at 10pm, takes the test cold turkey, and scores a 130!!! the guy is in the top 2% in terms of IQ. looking at him, who would've guessed?!!! (love you, my mission team brother). i'm waaay too proud and competitive. i blame our psych doctoral candidate for getting me "hooked" on this IQ stuff.
if you want to take a 20-minute exam....here's a link. i don't know if people even read my xanga page. i hope i'm still on the jca xanga group. i'm interested to see how smart our church is!
http://www.highiqsociety.org/iq_tests/
oh yeah, please pray for me. i'm going to nashville for a youth rally this weekend and will be flying into atlanta (if everything goes well) about 90 minutes before sunday service. catching a 7am flight out of nashville (central time)
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| The Power of Community
Wow....I was wiped out all day. Usually, I sleep a good 8-10 hours on Sunday night b/c I hardly sleep all week. But this past weekend was right up there along with our JCA retreat in terms of exhaustion.
I really feel like the church is becoming a family. These days I can't stop crying when I think about people and how much they are growing, as well as the difficulties they face. I dunno....a season of tears.
We had Friday night house fellowship at the JCA house. Over 20 people came! I felt terrible b/c we sat around the first 30 minutes not knowing what to do. Then I decided, "let's sing praise songs and pray". Sometimes I feel bad b/c we aren't exactly the most "exciting" church. We just worship and pray. But you know what? People really were blessed through the prayer meeting. I realized that people come not because of what we plan for the night. They come because they want to come. GTech and Emory - there are no clicks. It feels like one family.
I had major concerns about Saturday's Valentine Dinner. Church and Valentine's Day? Ain't that weird? I WAS SHOCKED BY THE BROTHERS! Man, they look so much better when they take showers and wear suits! They really blessed me by cooking, decorating, performing music selections, and even ballroom dancing! I think the girls were blessed.
Sunday was topping on the cake. Awesome celebration service, played b-ball with the guys, and we ate dinner at Folk's.
I wish I had in college what these kids have now. Never really had close Christian friends. Hope they don't take it for granted.
Here's a shout out to Sam Ro and James Lee. Great seeing you this past weekend. Made me cry. You guys have changed a lot! Thanks for the prayers and encouraging words. Our church really like you guys.
i m dun talkin ghetto! 2 many ppl b jackin mah style? hahahaha. can't stop. l8er | | |
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