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A Paper I just wrote

So I am not a good paper writer but this is a paper i wrote on a book i recently read but it has some good stuff in it. Take time and read it. NOW!

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together, the majority of the text is focused on how, as Christians redeemed through grace, we can serve our Lord together as a church, but he focuses one chapter of this book on how, in personal alone time, a Christian brother can uplift and serve as a part of the bigger community of the church. There are people in the Christian fellowship who seek out community because they want it to be a distraction from the loneliness in their lives and there are also people who seek to avoid community because they feel that the community is not doing enough for them, so in turn they reject it. Both of those trains of thought can be extremely dangerous and with out the help of this book the bible clearly illustrates this point, in the command “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” It boldly states that we have neighbors and we need to love them. It first states the fact that we don’t just approach community as something we gain from but rather something we can give to. Secondly it says that you are meant to lift your neighbors’ needs above your own. The bible leaves not room for selfish ambition in seeking community or avoiding it and that is why I love how Bonhoeffer expresses how to approach community even when you are alone.

“Let him who cannot be alone be aware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.” This is a wonderful statement on how the life of a Christian should be played out! He is showing that if you go to the extreme of being alone or in community you can ensnare yourself in a dangerous trap. So in order for me to have quality alone time with the Lord I should also have that quality time with the Lord and other believers. It’s all about finding that balance of how much time to spend in each one. Many times there are things that I learn in the silence and stillness of being alone with God that I would not have learned in my time of community with believers. He goes on to describe three things that a person should try and accomplish in their alone time with the Lord.

The first being meditation, more specifically scripture meditation. The main point of this is to get alone and focus on a brief text of scripture, in order to allow the spirit to teach us the depths of this scripture. He goes on to say that even “the word “father,” or “love,” “mercy,” “cross,” “sanctification,” “resurrection,”” are in themselves big enough to spend a good amount of time thinking on. For example the word “father” can bring up so many thoughts about God and passages of scripture that you could make endless bible studies about “father”. Not that I won’t spend time in just spending time reading the bible as a whole, but there is great wisdom in taking a small text of scripture and studying it like crazy. Sometimes it might even take a little bit of time before your mind is clear enough to let the spirit speak to you and that’s ok. In the time of thinking and letting the Lord speak to you, you will find that if you seek the lord he will give you wisdom and he will show his will.

Secondly he approaches the topic of prayer in our daily alone time. Praying along with the scripture, personally I like the Psalms, brings us into a place where we are accepting the fact that the Lord is sovereign and good and will lead us, no matter what the situation, into his loving mercy. In our time of prayer we should also spend time praying for ourselves. Praying for our wants, needs, aspirations, temptations, and whatever else is pertinent to our personal walks with the Lord, the stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily pray in a large group of people. Jesus wants us to be open and honest with him in this time. He wants us to tell him what’s going on in our lives. Some times we try and pray very specifically and when other thoughts come into our minds we push them aside and don’t give them a second thought. Bonhoeffer states that we should just incorporate those thoughts into our prayer and you will get back to your original prayer in time, cause maybe those thoughts are from the Lord and he wants you to pray for them.

The third topic he brings out is intercession. “Every Christian has his own circle who have requested him to make intercession for them or for whom he knows he has been called upon especially to pray.” It means that we all have a circle of influence or a group of people that we spend our everyday lives with. Those are the people that we should be in prayer for day in and day out, even if we don’t like those people. I personally love the fact that he points out that through intercession there should be no anger or tension between any brother in the church, because if you are praying for that brother God will transform your heart and you will no longer see that person as an enemy, but as a fellow sinner who Christ also became sin for. It brings back into the focus of not judging each other and simply understanding that we all fail at times and the main response to anything should be prayer, even the little things.

All three of these things put together can make a rewarding personal time with God and it will profoundly enrich our time spent in fellowship with other believers. Through it community can become something so much deeper than a social club. Community can become a place where Christians, who spend time alone with a merciful savior, can come together as a group of redeemed sinners and worship a true living God and then go out, together, and spread the good news the we have received, which should be the goal of every Christian community.

peace,

matt

Intercession

Just wanted to drop an awesome quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on you guys. It's in his book called "Life Together" Check it:

"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that until now may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others. There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercession as far as our side of it is concerned. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day. The struggle we undergo with our brother in intercession may be a hard one, but that struggle has the promise that it will gain it's goal."

I'm not going to even try and explain this to you. Just read it, digest it, then live it.

peace,

matt

Wait! God's sovereign and good?!?!

After a four week trip back home I got the wonderful chance to speak and Light Company(The middle school ministry at my home church). I think I might have learned a lot more from the talk than the middle schoolers did. haha. I am so thankful that I even get a chance to get up in front of those kids and tell them plainly and honestly how the Lord is teaching me. I love being honest with them. I love telling them my heart. I don't think there is any other way to talk to kids. I think they might have an ability to see through fakeness, but I think they love it, even the tough guys, when some one is honest with them and tells them that everyone goes through hard and good times.

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything

by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God;

and the peace of God, which surpasses all

understanding, will guard your hearts and

minds through Christ Jesus.

This passage is extremely ridiculous if you think about it. It's pretty

much telling me not to worry about anything. That's hard!

Have you ever tried to not worry about anything? I don't

think it's possible for even the most emotionless people to not worry.

Then it's telling me to talk to God in EVERYTHING! yes everything.

What could in everything mean? Could it possibly mean that

no matter if I'm joyful, sad, trusting, disgusted, fearful, angry,

surprised, anxious, envious, shy, nervous, exasperated, prideful,

or cheerful that I pray and offer those emotions up to God?

But I'm happy why should I pray to God? I'm sad there's

no way the Lord has time to comfort me. Satan feeds us

those lies because he doesn't want us in communion

with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God is not fickle and God is not vindictive against his children.

"If a son asks for bread from any father among you,

will he give him a stone?" What loving father would punish

their children for being honest and upfront about their desires?

A loving father LOVES when their son or daughter spends time

with them and talks to them. That is how God views his children.

When you talk to God and tell him the desires of your heart he

will give you peace through Jesus Christ. If you love Jesus you

have the promise of Romans 8:28. (And we know that all

things work together for the good of those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose.) My security,

as a christian saved by grace, is that God is working everything

towards the glory of himself and if God is glorified I am

doing what I'm supposed to.

So we have to believe that our God is in control and that

he is looking to bless us. In other words I serve a God who is

sovereign and good! How wonderful is that! I hope you can

remember that in your week. Wait for those answers from God,

even if you don't like the answer. God knows better than

us and all he wants to do is bless and love his children.

peace,

matt

Sometimes

Sometimes people hurt you,

Sometimes life just sucks,

Sometimes we look around and feel so alone,

Sometimes you question why you are where you at,

Sometimes you wonder what's going on,

Sometimes its hard to see God working,

Sometimes you curse the day of your birth,

Sometimes your emotions take control and you don't know where they will be next,

Sometimes God seems so distant,

Sometimes it feels like people don't see what's right in front of them,

Sometimes you care so much for what seems like nothing,

Sometimes you want to just yell and be angry,

Sometimes life looks so grim,

BUT THEN you read things like

Psalm 5:11-12

¹¹ But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;

Let those also who love Your name

Be joyful in You.

¹² For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Psalm 138

¹ I will praise You with my whole heart;

Before the gods I will sing praises to You.

² I will worship toward Your holy temple,

And praise Your name

For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

³ In the day when I cried out, You answered me,

And made me bold with strength in my soul.

⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD,

When they hear the words of Your mouth.

⁵ Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,

For great is the glory of the LORD.

⁶ Though the LORD is on high,

Yet He regards the lowly;

But the proud He knows from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;

You will stretch out Your hand

Against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will save me.

⁸ The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalm 139

¹ O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

² You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”

Even the night shall be light about me;

¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹ Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!

Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.

²⁰ For they speak against You wickedly;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

²¹ Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

²² I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

and you realize that (even as I'm writing this sentence my heart is changing) the Lord my God, Jesus Christ, is working out Romans 8:28 in my life even when i can't see it and that fills me with so much JOY! I love God and I know that I am called to his purposes. What a wonderful security to know that he is working everything to good for me, and what better good is there than bringing glory to Jesus?! Sometimes I am like the Israelites when they were in the desert. Forgetting what the Lord has done for me and realizing that he has never not turned a situation to good. Life gets hard and wears you down but then you realize that the lord is doing something in your life. Mark Driscoll said in his sermon Pray Like Jesus: The High Priestly Prayer Pt. 1

"I am continually praying God when things don't go according to my plan let me know that its still your plan and let me not see it as an obstacle to glorify you but an opportunity to glorify you that your going to do something in me before you do something through me let me see in it how to honor you how to obey you how to serve you..."

What a perfect prayer that is. No matter what situation we are in are response should

be thank you JESUS! Thank you for caring enough to teach me even if it is hard! I will

leave you with this Spurgeon study from august 5th.

“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Romans 8:28

Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” He knows too that God is always wise, and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, “If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if God ordains it.” “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that he governs wisely, that he brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, “Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from thee; never came there an ill portion from thy table to any of thy children.”

“Say not my soul, ‘From whence can God relieve my care?’ Remember that Omnipotence has servants everywhere. His method is sublime, his heart profoundly kind, God never is before his time, and never is behind.” Praise the Lord. Jesus is exalted on his throne and I get the chance to worship him! I pray that in your lives wether good or bad that you can realize and pray to God that he will give you the grace to praise and worship him in every situation. May God bless you and keep you! :-) peace, matt

:-(

I MISS AARON WOLF AND AARON MOORE....

God being who He is, cannot cease to be what He is, and being what He is, He cannot act out of character with Himself. He is at once faithful and immutable, so all His words and acts must be and remain faithful. Men become unfaithful out of desire, fear, weakness, loss of interest, or because of some strong influence from without. Obviously none of these forces can affect God in any way. He is His own reason for all He is and does. He cannot be compelled from without, but ever speaks and acts from within Himself by His own sovereign will as it pleases Him.

The Knowledge of the Holy
A.W. Tozer

This is a short excerpt from A.W. Tozer reminds me of the simple faithfulness that God has. A faithfulness that is just as equal to his character as his omnipotence, immutability, wisdom, grace, goodness, mercy, love, infinitude, self existence, etc... This book has brought light to the fact that all God is is all God is. He is no better at one thing than he is at another. In his perfection he is and was and will be. There is no time where God wasn't or isn't. He is so unique in his being that he is outside any sort of description that we can give him, so he has revealed himself to us in his scripture.
My aim in my life should be to find out how i can, personally, come close to and emulate the characteristics of God that he has shown me. I pray thatwe can daily come to the revelation of the greatness of God. The we can learn to be disciplined in the knowledge that God is "...the beginning and the end. (rev 13:22)"
peace,
Matt

Deuteronomy 32:3-4

³ I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.