Living In Freedom Ministries

...I Shall Not Want

2012-02-08T15:47:00.000-06:00

Previously, I began writing about Psalm 23. You can read that post here. As I continue thinking through this chapter, God keeps showing me so much of the power that lies within it.

"The Lord is my shepherd" is a reality that changes everything and it's in the context of that reality that I can finally realize all my needs are fully met in Him. "I shall not want" is a confession and acknowledgment of the gift of God received by those who believe.

Because He is my shepherd, I am no longer at a place of need. Rather, I am now at a place of fullness in the core of my being. What I desire more than anything is Him. These truths become experienced reality as we keep our eyes fixed on Him (Hebrews 12:2) and not wandering around at the temptations that exist everywhere.

Fixing our eyes on Him is not disengaging from reality but engaging more fully in what is truly real for us. For as we choose to look to Him we begin to see that He is a trustworthy Shepherd who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3) and changed us in our core (2 Corinthians 5:17) so that we have become spiritual beings having a human experience and are no longer merely human beings having a spiritual experience.

So our confession, as those in His flock, is that we are His and as such have all that we need as He is our deepest desire and He has given Himself completely to us.

As we see that He is our Shepherd, our confession is that we will not long for anything or anyone else. He satisfies the longings of our soul and quenches the deep thirst of our spirit. In Him we find our provision, protection, security, adequacy, unconditional love and acceptance, and our meaning and purpose.

My prayer for you and me as we journey on in this life is that we will live in the reality that He is our Shepherd and therefore we are not in want.

A Few By Lecrae

2012-02-06T09:27:00.001-06:00

I always like to gather songs on here that communicate the truth that our lives are hidden in Christ and our identity is in Him. These are both from Lecrae - who can definitely flow. The first is called "Identity" and the second is called "God Is Enough". I hope you enjoy...

The Lord Is My Shepherd

2012-01-25T16:46:00.000-06:00

Psalm 23 is a powerful chapter and it begins with "The Lord is my shepherd."

More than just a figurative name, the Lord literally guides, protects, grows, loves, and changes our identity from being just a sheep to being one of His sheep. This changes everything. As a sheep is dependent upon its shepherd for everything, so are we on Christ our Shepherd. As a sheep is dependent upon its shepherd for provision, so are we on Christ our Shepherd. As a sheep must completely trust its shepherd, we do as well on Christ our Shepherd.

Learning to live in Christ in the reality of Him being our Shepherd is learning to live a life of total dependence on Him and trusting Him to be in control, to know what He's doing, and that He will always do what is best.

My prayer today is that those who know Him as their Shepherd will walk in complete dependence on Him - our guide, our protector, our perfecter, our lover, our provider, our life, and our Shepherd.

Living From A New Source

2012-01-13T02:53:00.001-06:00

God has used a guy in my life in incredible ways for the past 6+ years. His name is Bill Loveless and he founded Christ Is Life Ministries.

There have been countless times where God has used Bill in my life to speak truth to me and to bring me out of lies that I have believed about God, me, others, and living this life. He has now made available a free resource online that is definitely worth your time.

He wrote a curriculum titled "Living Life From A New Source" and has made the video curriculum available online for free. You can watch the series here!

Here is the Introduction to the series:

CILM - Living Life From A New Source - Intro from Bill Loveless on Vimeo.

Being Lifted

2012-01-11T11:06:00.002-06:00

One of the elements of the human adventure that is common among everyone throughout history is the reality of difficulties and adversity. There are millions of opinions and suggestions, countless books written, and entire religions built around trying to find a way through these circumstances.

How do you deal with difficulties in your own life? Where do you turn? What is your hope?

In Isaiah 40:28-31, there is a powerful truth that is just as applicable today as it was when first penned.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." HCSB

As this passage has been processing in my mind for the past week or so, there is something that caught my attention that I've never realized before. It's been there the whole time, so it's not really knew (and may not be new to you) but it's powerfully new to me.

In verse 28, many words are used to describe God, including "never grows faint or weary." It is incredibly comforting to come to realization that the God we pray to, lean on, surrender to, and trust in never gets tired, never needs a break, and has unending strength. I think this is a pretty common understanding of God. However, as God reveals Himself through Isaiah He continues on and reveals something more.

In verse 29, God declares through Isaiah that "He gives strength to the weary..." and later in verse 31, "those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." (emphasis mine)

We know God is a strong God who never tires, grows weary, or faints. However, did you catch what else He does? He makes us "run and not grow weary" and to "walk and not faint."

When we are redeemed by Christ, we pass from death to life. We move from self-sufficiency to Christ-sufficiency. We are lifted up out of our muck and lifted into Him so we no longer have to stumble around. He "renews our strength," not with our strength but His. He moves through us so that we walk in this world without growing weary in our soul because we have His abundant, full, and overflowing life in us (Matthew 11:28-31, John 10:10, John 7:38).

As we live in this world, we were created to live by faith which is a life of dependence - utter and complete surrender to Christ as we trust Him to not only be alive in us but to live His life through us. As we fix our eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:2), we begin to experience the life we were created for - His life - and we are lifted up on wings like eagles, soaring in this life as we find Christ to be our fullness, acceptance, life, and everything. It's at this place, soaring above, that we can finally see what's really going on because we've been lifted up and given His eyes so we no longer have to merely look with our eyes that will only see what we can rationally understand and logically explain.

My prayer for me and for all who read this, is that we will fix our eyes on Jesus and press into Him - taking one step of faith at a time as we trust Him to be enough for us. As we trust and live by faith, we begin to experience His life because He lifts us up, renews our strength, gives us rest for our souls, and makes us to soar on wings like eagles.

Passion Conference

2012-01-04T17:07:00.001-06:00

In January of 1999, I was about to start the 2nd semester of my freshman year in college. Dani and I had only been dating a few months but were already thinking our relationship was going to be something big for us. Over the the Christmas break, while Dani was back with her family in Oregon and I was with mine in Texas, we talked a lot and looked forward to the time she would return.

It was an exciting time for her family as they were preparing for a trip to Israel with a group that would explore many biblical places and they would be able to finally see with their eyes what they have pictured in their minds. However, Dani felt God stirring in her something different. Her family helped her change her travel arrangements and sent her back to Texas early so she could attend Passion '99 in Ft. Worth.

I was pumped to have her back, but more than that I was pumped to get to go to this conference with her and experience God in this way together. Just saying that this was a turning point for us is an understatement. It is hard to express the lasting impact God gave us during this conference. It is a marker in our minds that we can always reflect back on and remember clearly tasting the majesty and glory of Jesus.

Our relationship was undoubtedly solidified as we prayed together, worship side-by-side, and studied God's Word with intensity, passion, and excitement. God changed us and we continue to thank Him for this huge moment in our lives where He not only moved in us as individuals but as a couple as well.

Fast forward to January 2012 (i.e. right now), and Passion has moved to Georgia with over 40,000 college students gathering to intensely and intimately engage with God. Not only are so many there, but they are also streaming the conference online and almost as many have been watching through that avenue. It is so wonderful to witness God moving in this generation! I am often moved to tears as I worship and watch all of those students sing, shout, dance, and engage with Jesus.

Earlier today, I took a break from writing curriculum for an upcoming event where I am teaching to watch with my daughters one of the sessions. I am so thankful that I get to show my kids this conference (at least a few clips of it) and worship with them, even though we are nowhere near Georgia where it's actually taking place.

It's almost over, but you can still check out several of the sessions and watch the remaining ones live if you are free. It is worth your time!

Watch Passion 2012 and engage with God through this incredible resource He's provided!

Song for the Upcoming Year

2011-12-28T15:40:00.002-06:00

I searched for this song after reading a part of Hudson Taylor's story in the book, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. As he was a missionary for most of his life in China, he learned of the incredible riches and depth of Christ's life for the believer that far exceeded anything on this earth and that could not be obtained by anything other than a life of dependence and trust that Christ isn't just Savior, but also Life. It was while he was in China that he discovered the incredible truth that he called the exchanged life.

Here is the excerpt from chapter 17 that has led to me listening to the song below on repeat for the past week:

"Whenever work permitted, Mr. Taylor was in the habit of turning to a little harmonium for refreshment, playing and singing many a favorite hymn, but always coming back to

Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

One of the eighteen evangelists, Mr. George Nichol, was with him on one occasion when some letters were handed in to his office, bringing news of serious rioting in two of the older stations of the Mission. Thinking that Mr. Taylor might wish to be alone, the younger man was about to withdraw when, to his surprise, someone began to whistle. It was the soft refrain of the same well-loved hymn:

Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art...

Turning back, Mr. Nichol could not help exclaiming, "How can you whistle, when our friends are in so much danger?"

"Would you have me anxious and troubled?" was the quiet reply. "That would not help them, and would certainly incapacitate me for my work. I have just to roll the burden on the Lord."

Whatever this upcoming year may hold, my prayer for my family and me as well as all friends of LIFe Ministries is that we will "roll the burden on the Lord" and rest "in the joy of what Thou art."

Annual Update, 2011

2011-12-08T02:34:00.001-06:00

props to Jade Pierce Photography

Dear Friendof LIFe Ministries,

Living In Freedom Ministries continuesto be life-changing for our family. As we look back on 2011 and aheadto 2012, we believe that with God navigating this ministry, we canembrace every twist and turn with trust, not in what lies ahead, butin the One who is directing it and sustaining us.

We are deeplygrateful for your prayers and encouragement as we continue in faith.When we started in 2006, we felt an urgency to spread this message oflife in Christ to as many as were willing to hear. As we continue toencounter adults, students, marriages and families experiencingintense spiritual and personal difficulties, that urgency increases. And as we witness the transforming power of truth in many of theselives, we are moved and compelled tocontinue on. We walk with the individuals God purposefully bringsour way while He pursues them. Through teaching Bible studies,meeting with pastors, leading marriage and parenting conferences andspeaking at churches and events, we are able to share truth about whoGod is, who we are in Him, and what it means to walk in dependence byfaith.

Wehave personally experienced the transforming truth of Christ in ourlives and have seen powerful transformation in the lives and familiesof others.

“My wife and I have read a lot of books about marriage. We've doneBible studies and been in countless marriage Sunday School classes. But this has been the missing link that we needed for a healthymarriage! I am now seeing how God wants to change my marriage bychanging the kind of husband and father I am.”
-Participantof 2011 Marriage Conference

Wecontinue to embrace His calling to be missionaries to the church byencouraging those who struggle to delve into“the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us inChrist Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

Thank you forserving with us in LIFe Ministries. We can continue our servicebecause of your friendship, prayer and financial support. God hasshown us love, kindness and provision through many of you. Pleasepray for us this upcoming year as we make ourselves available tocontinue LIFe Ministries as God leads.

We are blessed tosee God's financial provision through events, special offerings and abase of supporters who have faithfully joined us in ministry byregularly contributing to LIFe Ministries. The largest avenue throughwhich God continues to provide is our base of supporters. We ask that as you pray for us, you alsoconsider giving financially as He leads. God knows our needs, and weare thankful for how He has provided for us through you.

“ForGod, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in ourhearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in theface of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, toshow that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Corinthians 4:7). Being used by God inLIFe Ministries has been humbling and more fulfilling than weimagined as we have trusted and depended on Christ. It has also beenmore difficult than we anticipated as God has stretched our faith. In it all, we have the opportunity to “fix our eyes on Jesus”(Hebrews 12:2) as God transforms our lives “by the renewing of[our] minds” (Romans 12:2). We are grateful for you and pray thatyou may experience His life, love, peace, kindness and powerthroughout the upcoming year.

Grace and Peace,

Matt and Dani

Living In Freedom, INC. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization.

If you're interested in making a financial contribution,

please visit the official LIFe Ministries website and complete the form.

The Bema Part 2

2011-10-05T17:09:00.000-05:00

Here is part 2 of The Bema presentation that Bent Tree Bible Fellowship did this past weekend. It is only available for a week so watch it while it's on. If you miss the window to view it online, you can order the dvd's here.

The Bema-Part 2 from Bent Tree on Vimeo.

LIFe Ministries Fall 2011 Update

2011-10-05T12:43:00.000-05:00

It is incredible that we are already over a month in to the fall semester. We hope you are having a wonderful start to the new school year.

In August, we had a “Friends of LIFe Ministries Appreciation Dessert” in Oregon. We loved reconnecting with friends of LIFe and sharing what God is doing in our lives and in LIFe Ministries. We are also planning a local gathering soon!

Dani and I have felt for several months that God was preparing us for a change. We did not know what that would entail but knew that it would be different in some fashion from what we have done for the past four years. Then, in early August, I received a call from Providence Preparatory School about a part-time teaching position for three PE classes and two Bible classes, a position that would allow me to continue full-time in LIFe Ministries. After praying extensively over this change and trusting God’s guidance, I am officially a part-time teacher at Providence and have deeply loved each moment I’ve had so far. I now have a group of students that I will get to regularly walk with for this year. I also get to teach my older two girls in PE!

I have begun to see that God has much more than teaching for me here. He is using me in a pastoral role as well. After just a few weeks, I am already experiencing this reality, and I love getting to watch God move in this setting.

This new job has definitely made for a busier schedule, but we are seeing God provide energy, guidance, strength, and clarity as we depend on Him to make sure everything is done and done well. Monday, Wednesday, half of Friday, and weekends are devoted to LIFe Ministries, while I devote Tuesday, Thursday, and half of Friday to Providence. We are excited about this new adventure in our journey.

As for the fall in LIFe Ministries, here are some of the things we have going on so far:

We have officially kicked off the Marriage Discipleship element of the ministry. Dani and I are now available to disciple couples who are struggling in their marriage. We have an ad in the Belton ISD athletics program to let our community know about this opportunity, and I am also contacting local churches to encourage them to send couples our way.

This fall, I am also speaking at several Fellowship of Christian Athlete events, a few at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and one at Academy High School. Also, Dani and I are going to Missouri for a Married LIFe Retreat with FBC Ellisville. This retreat will be our first event with FBC Ellisville, and we are excited about the partnership that is forming.

This year is off to a wonderful start and the journey of faith continues to surprise us as we learn to trust in each step. We are praying for you and would love to know how to pray more specifically.

The Bema from Bent Tree Bible

2011-09-30T13:27:00.003-05:00

The Bema-Part 1 from Bent Tree on Vimeo.

For more info, check out The Bema.

Great Devotional...by someone else.

2011-09-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

I get a daily e-mail from www.ChristAsUs.com and most of the time I find them very beneficial for my journey. This one seemed to clearly describe what the Christian life really is so I thought I would share it here! It was written by Juan Carlos Ortiz.

""For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near" (Hebrews 10:1 NASB).

The written Law is the shadow of the reality. The Reality is the Spirit. It is the dynamic, actual, working Spirit of Christ. The Letter cannot make perfect. But the reality, yes! The Spirit can make perfect--that was the promise of the Father. "I will show you how to walk in my ways and you will keep my ordinances."

Too much consciousness of the letter, gives the letter the wrong place, so that the letter becomes an end in itself rather than a pointing finger to the real thing. We find a sign that says: "Oregon, 200 miles." That sign is supposed to help us get to Oregon, but it is going to be a hindrance if we say, "Oh, wonderful! See, it's Oregon! Let's put our camper here." But that's not Oregon. It is just a sign saying that to get to Oregon you have to keep going. If you stay there, the sign that was supposed to help you becomes a hindrance. Even so, we can become letter-centered.

Wherever I go I have my wife's picture. Every time I pack my suitcase, my wife makes sure that I have the picture. I set it up in my room on the table, and every night I look at the picture and write a letter. One letter a day goes to Martha. But suppose when I come home I keep on looking at the picture, writing letters, and don't pay any attention to her? She would say, "Juan, give me back that picture. I'm here!" I think Jesus is tired of our obsession with His picture when He is alive and with us.

What is the fulfilment of the Law? Love. And love is much, much more than the fulfilment of the Law. It goes far beyond the Law. The Law said, "Thou shalt not covet." But the Law never demanded, "Thou shalt have peace. Thou shalt have meekness." Never. The fruit of the Spirit is much, much more. The disciples at Pentecost. What was the result? They stayed together; they prayed; they loved everyone; they were fearless; they had fellowship with one another. Miracles were done. They lived together. They had their things in common. They sold their property and goods and brought the proceeds to the feet of the apostles. They shared with all who were in need. They persevered in accord. They ate together. Their love was contagious and worth dying for. What came naturally to them was much, much more than the requirements of the Law.

The Law never asked them to sell their goods. The Law never said they had to live together, to perform miracles, to go into all the world and be expendable for others. Never. This life in the Spirit is much more than the Law because Pentecost is the reality foreshadowed. It is the new heart--the new creation--with God's desires built in, with the Trinity at home in the heart. It is rivers of living water flowing out to every community and nation."

Still Learning Dependence...Still Being Amazed

2011-06-28T00:41:00.004-05:00

This past month has been quite the adventure. After an amazing trip (that was a gift to us) to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, we began to explore other employment possibilities as the ministry was out of funds and we were almost personally out as well.

After sending out an e-mail to all those who have followed LIFe Ministries for some time now, we began receiving some special funds as God led people to give to cover the ministry expenses for the next few months.

It's been incredibly encouraging to experience His grace through others in this way. We are deeply grateful for all who have responded to His prompting to financially join us in ministry at this time.

Last week, I was the speaker for the Harvest Fellowship Church youth camp. I wrote the material and spoke twice each day at camp. It was a beautiful week as I saw the Spirit move in the lives of the students and the adults who were serving as leaders and helpers during the week.

Jesus overflowed by His Spirit to speak, reveal, encourage, and transform. Many of the students shared with me how they had read so many of the biblical stories we looked at but they never saw in them what we were unpacking together as Jesus opened their eyes to the Truth and revealed how the biblical account connected with their lives. One girl came up near the end of camp and shared with me that she heard from God for the first time in her life. She was beaming with joy as she shared this experience!

As much as I observed God moving in the students' lives and how much they shared what they were experiencing, He was also moving in my life and encouraging my soul. It was powerful for me to see Him move and to watch as He ministered through me and others. I loved getting to see how He moved through Jeff (the YP) during the worship times as he stood in the back praying over the students and leading other leaders to specific students to pray over.

This group was unique, to say the least. They were close, welcoming, open, and receptive to the Spirit from the start. I have not witnessed the warmth and love between students like this before. They were affectionate, but not inappropriate. It didn't matter if they were close friends or if they just met at camp, they were encouraging one another, speaking truth in love to one another, and fully engaged in each element of camp. Not only were they like this with each other, but with the adult leaders and with me. It was like we had known each other for years even though this was my first time to meet most of them.

When we returned home, there were several checks for the ministry that came while we were gone and an envelope that had the ministry address in both the "to" and "from" sections. There was a typed letter inside as well as a financial gift, whoever sent it remained anonymous. To say we were encouraged by this would be an understatement. It wasn't just the financial gift that encouraged us, though it is significant and came at a crucial time, but it was also profound for me because God continued to show me that I can trust Him and that He is moving even when I don't see it.

As for other employment opportunities, nothing has become clear to us so far but we are remaining open to where and how He might lead us next while enjoying this moment right now. Dani and I have had some significant conversations with each other and a few others that we feel God has used to speak to us and I will share soon some of the changes we think will take place this fall. We are excited about His activity and deeply grateful to have experienced Him last week at camp as well as how He continues to minister to us through others.

He is able. He is enough. And we are His!

Great video from Ian Thomas

2011-06-07T02:05:00.001-05:00

Important Transitions

2011-05-27T14:29:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends of LIFe Ministries,

God has encouraged us through you, and we are thankful for your prayers for this ministry and our family. Thank you also for your willingness to give financially when God has led you to give. LIFe Ministries has always been designed to function by God's provision through a base of supporters as well as compensation for speaking events.

This year, while ministry activity has been at an all-time high, our financial situation has been at an all-time low. Typically, compensation from ministry events provides approximately 30% of LIFe Ministries' funding and supporters account for the remaining 70%. Without sufficient funding from both sources, we are not able to continue on in this ministry the way we have functioned up to this point.

LIFe Ministries did not have enough funds to cover payroll in May. We have used personal savings to cover our May expenses, but we will not be able to cover our June expenses. I have speaking engagements the next two Sundays and a youth camp in the middle of June on the horizon, but these events will not cover the deficit, and the funding we do receive from these events will be late.

Due to this financial situation, we are seeking employment outside of LIFe Ministries to support our family and praying fervently about this next step. Will you pray about giving to LIFe Ministries as we serve in the engagements that we already have calendared and explore what God is leading us to next? I will continue working full-time for LIFe Ministries while I pray through and explore our other options. We are asking you, as our support base, to consider giving to support our family during this transitional time.

Right now, our hope is that LIFe Ministries will continue operating on a part-time basis. We will keep you informed as God leads us as we walk by faith on this unbelievable journey of learning dependence.

In all of this, we are still trusting. We are trusting that God is our provider, that He is good, and always does good to us. In this struggle, we rejoice in His comfort and kindness to us in the midst of difficulty. We are also available to Him and to whatever He desires for us, wherever that may be.

We praise God for this struggle as He reveals that He is enough for us and trustworthy even when our circumstances are unstable and appear frightening. We praise God for His faithfulness and provisions and for this adventure. We also praise God for you. We are praying for you and would love to know how we can better pray for you specifically. Thank you for praying for us and giving as He leads.

Grace and Peace,

Matt and Dani Smith

LIFe Ministries Update - Spring 2011

2011-05-27T14:24:00.003-05:00

Hey there LIFers,

This semester has been full of travel activity as God has taken me to a variety of places since I last wrote. At the end of February, I spoke at Lake Arlington Baptist Church for their DiscipleNow Weekend. You can hear the sermon I preached during their Sunday morning service here (http://bit.ly/i6CvAp). You will need to scroll down a few sermons to get to the message I delivered titled "Abiding - The Reality of a Disciple." This was a lot of fun for me for many reasons, one of which was reconnecting with Eric, a friend and college roommate who is one of the pastors at LABC.

In March, I was asked to speak at the Temple Bible Church Spring Break Ski Trip. The format and setting for this event was much different than anything I've done before. I spoke late each night after everyone was exhausted from skiing all day, and yet their attention and the level of engagement was high. I spoke on our identity being in Christ and the reality that our lives are hidden in Christ (Colossians 3). It was exciting to see God move in the lives of the students who were on this trip.

In April, I went to Lepanto, AR for a DiscipleNow Weekend at FBC Lepanto. This town was fascinating. The population sign listed Lepanto at just under 2,200 people. I loved getting to learn about the people of Lepanto and seeing how God is using FBC to share His life, hope, and love to the community. The leaders were passionate, excited, and full of stories of how Christ has moved in their lives and how they long for Him to do much more. I was encouraged by the faith of the leaders I met there. You can hear the message I delivered during their Sunday morning service here (http://bit.ly/hDmC4M).

Two weekends ago, Dani and I hosted and led our first Married LIFe Retreat for married couples. With the help of our friend Mindy, we organized the event and invited churches to join us in Salado. This was the first time we had hosted a LIFe Ministries event on our own, rather than being invited by a church to speak. We had 26 people attend this event (including Dani and me) and loved getting to do this! Here is a quick testimony we received after the retreat:

"I just want to thank you so much for the retreat this weekend. It has changed me so much, I have rededicated my life to God after this weekend and I believe that it has saved my marriage!"

We have finished with Post Be Transformed for this semester, but we continue to host a Be Transformed group in our home on Sunday nights, and I lead a Be Transformed group at Brazos Meadows in Hewitt on Wednesday evenings. It's amazing to watch God reveal Himself as we walk these groups through Be Transformed.

We are thankful to get to partner with you in ministry and hope you experience His fullness in you today as we continue to remember His incredible sacrifice for us and celebrate His resurrection that we are now able to share in Him. We would also love to know how we can better pray for you.

Grace and Peace,

Matt Smith

Another Sermon Online

2011-03-04T11:27:00.004-06:00

During the last weekend of February, I spoke at Lake Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, TX for their DiscipleNow Weekend. I spoke once on Friday, twice on Saturday, and once on Sunday. The Sunday message was during the church-wide worship service and was recorded. If you have some time, check it out here. While you're listening, you can also follow along with the slides I used.

This message has been one that God has used to work on me a ton over the past month.

Listen Online

2011-02-16T01:35:00.005-06:00

Recently, my family and I traveled to Colonial Hills Baptist Church for their annual church-wide Winter Bible Conference. I led three sessions and Dani and I led one together. The theme for the conference was "Living In Christ." The first session was "Living In Christ at Church," the second session was "Living In Christ at Work," session three was "Living In Christ at Home," and the last session was "Living In Christ When You're Alone." Dani and I led "Living In Christ at Home" together.

There were some technical difficulties for the session that Dani and I led, but you can listen to the other sessions here.

Married LIFe Retreat

2011-02-09T12:37:00.003-06:00

If you are interested in coming or want to know more, e-mail marriedLIFe[at]liveinfreedom[dot]org.

Or, you can download the registration form here.

I Am New

2011-02-08T20:36:00.003-06:00

There is a relatively new song out that I am digging in a major way. If you haven't heard it, it's called "I Am New" by Jason Gray. There are few songs that clearly deliver the message of our new creation, new identity in Christ like this one. You need to take a few minutes and enjoy the sweet truths being sung over you as you hear the truth of all who are in Christ.

More Details for the Married LIFe Retreat

2011-02-04T01:19:00.003-06:00

April 15th:

5:00-7:00 Registration
7:30 Worship Session 1
9:00 Games, Snacks and/or Couple Time

April 16th:

Continental Breakfast at Hotel

9:30 Worship Session 2
11:00 Ladies/Guys Discussion Groups
12:00 Lunch Date with Spouse in Salado
2:00 Worship Session 3
3:30 Couple Discussion Time
4:00 Q&A with Matt and Dani/Closing Session
5:30 Dinner Date/Head Home

Married LIFe - Retreat for Couples

2011-02-02T13:30:00.004-06:00

Mark your calendars - April 15th-16th! Actually, mark also March 15th because that's the early-bird deadline to register and pay for your spot at our first ever Married LIFe Retreat.

For more info, check out our digital flyer.

To register, click here. Registration is not complete until we receive your payment!

This event is designed to give you and your spouse some quality time together, encouragement, connections with others, and exploring the realities of the Christ-centered marriage.

We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions, e-mail marriedLIFe@liveinfreedom.org.

Update/Support Letter, December 2010

2010-12-06T15:32:00.002-06:00

Dear Friend of LIFe Ministries,

The joy of our adventure over the past four years has been discovering the reality and depth of the life and love of Jesus in us: He is flowing into our souls, renewing our minds and transforming our experiences on this earth. We are grateful for this journey and truly thankful for your partnership in this ministry.

Walking in dependence on Christ is how we were created to live, even though at times it seems quite difficult. As we continue to learn to live in dependence on Christ in every moment, He continues to bring more opportunities for us to trust Him. We are witnessing His activity and sufficiency through this ministry in incredible ways.

Partnering with churches has been an essential element in this ministry as well. It has never been our intention or desire to do one event and never see those who attended again. We long to see lives transformed, and most often that doesn’t happen after just one weekend.

During 2010, the ministry continued to expand into marriage ministry and college ministry. In May, we led our first marriage conference we called, “Uncovering Marriage Myths” at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Tyler. I led a youth event there a few years ago and have remained close with some of the pastors since then. Nate Murray is the Pastor to Families at Colonial Hills and recently shared his thoughts with us about the marriage conference:

"The comment I heard time and again, was that Christ communicated through Matt and Dani in a way that set apart their teaching and discipleship on marriage from anything our families had heard.
Matt and Dani bring to the table an honest, Scriptural approach to living life in Christ and allowing Christ to live His life in and through you. Their authentic testimony combined with their understanding of the truth of God’s Word allows Christ to work through them to provide an environment where people can dig into what it means to find your identity in Christ.
What I appreciated most was the manner in which Matt and Dani easily engaged with our people, providing simple, practical tools for couples to use on a daily basis. A lot of material sounds good in theory, but fails the test of reality. What our families learned during the conference, they’re still using on a daily basis months later.”

In June, our family was asked to be a part of the IMPACT Camp with Temple Bible Church. This was our second year in a row to write the material we would cover during the large group sessions and small group devotional times. Aisley, a freshman in high school, shared with us a little of what God revealed to her during the week:

“I've always grown up in a Christian home and "accepted Christ" when I was ten. I say that lightly because it was more like I prayed the prayer and kept on living life...During the beginning of my seventh grade year I really gave into the influence of the world and began to turn away from God...Then, the summer after eighth grade at IMPACT Camp for Back Yard Bible Clubs, Matt spoke on Philippians 3 and surrendering our lives to Christ. He was saying that in order to live our lives for Christ and in Christ we had to give our whole life to Christ. As I was thinking about it I didn't understand that after all I had done, Christ would still want me back...But then after reading a few other passages in the Bible I realized that Jesus doesn't require us to be perfect. I may have pushed God away but He had never gone anywhere. He had been there all along and He was only waiting with open arms for me to come back. But then came the hard part. Letting go...I was terrified of letting go. I knew that what God had in store for me was going to be so much better but I still didn't believe it. After Matt's talk on the last night I talked with one of my dearest friends who prayed with me. Then I decided that I was going to do it. I gave my life to Christ that summer and it was to this day the best thing I have ever done...”

To read more from Nate and Aisley as well as other testimonies, please visit our website.

As LIFe expanded into new areas and age groups, our website and logo were no longer representing our current ministry. A good friend of ours redesigned them this year. You can check them out at www.liveinfreedom.org.

Each semester we lead a Be Transformed study in our home. It is based on Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” As we walk college students and adults through Biblical Truth and how to surrender as God transforms our minds, we are continually astounded by God's work in their lives. This semester, He has revealed Himself to the members in our group in an amazing way. He has set them free from many of their life problems and faulty belief systems about who they are, who God is, and how they are supposed to live the Christian life.

After leading Be Transformed groups for the past 5 years, we felt led to begin a new group called Post Be Transformed. We invited everyone we have led through Be Transformed to further explore the realities of living a dependent life on Christ while we examine difficult passages of Scripture. We are excited about this new opportunity to continue walking with others as God reveals Himself to them as their life and what that means for each moment.

As we embark on another year of ministry, we continue to primarily operate financially through support partners. Please pray about your partnership with us and how God desires to use you in this ministry. We are thankful to get to walk with so many and share in this adventure of faith.

Grace and Peace,

Matt and Dani Smith
www.liveinfreedom.org

Living In Freedom Ministries is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Great Clip About The Gospel

2010-10-30T23:42:00.001-05:00

Another Story of Life Change

2010-08-26T15:43:00.002-05:00

Every now and then we get a note from someone we have either taught or walked with in discipleship. We recently received this note from our friend, Luke, whom we walked through the Be Transformed study with a year ago. This past May, I got to officiate the wedding between Luke and Kelsey and my girls were flower girls while Dani was a bride's maid.

It's awesome to hear how God has revealed Himself to our friends.

“As a college student on a “Christian campus,” who was raised in a Christian church, by Christian parents, I had it mostly figured out. Although there were questions that seemingly no one could answer regarding predestination or the “unforgivable sin,” the Christian walk was a breeze. I even led worship for hundreds of college students throughout the year. There just wasn't that much left to figure out, except who I was going to marry, of course.

Then I met Kelsey. A strong, kind, and very different version of the girl I thought I would marry. As the debates about Christianity and the life we lived and how we were to live that life piled up, I quickly realized we had a very different belief system.

Out of those conversations (some might even call them arguments!) Kelsey urged me to meet two of her dearest friends, Matt and Dani. Man, am I glad she did! Dani was Kelsey's mentor and she had walked with her, along with Matt, through a Bible study called Be Transformed. Apparently, this is where Kelsey picked up these “Semantically different” beliefs, or so I called them. Shortly after meeting Matt and Dani, they invited both Kelsey and I to walk with them (and 3 others) through Be Transformed.

Throughout the study, Christ began to strip away my wrong beliefs about myself and about Him, replacing them with Biblical truth centered in Hope. As I began to hear about my new life in Christ, and that I was a new creation, I felt a weight lifting off my shoulders. As I heard how the Spirit wanted to work in and through me, I began to stop trying so hard! And as I learned all good things come from Christ Jesus, I learned that the dependent life was the only life I wanted to live. Although this study did change certain areas of theology for me, it changed so much more that. I began to shift my focus from works to Christ, from darkness to light, from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to the Tree of Life. I was no longer reading my Bible because of where it would get me but turning to Christ because of where He could take me. I began to stop going through the motions of religion and started allowing the Lord to teach me what true dependence looked like.

Since the study I have had the opportunity to share these treasures with several people. Matt and Dani still continue to walk with us as we all search for answers and struggle to live dependent on Him. However, our hope is built on a God who has taken our sins as far as the East is from the West and we know that Christ in us will accomplish his plan for us as he teaches us how to surrender to Him.”

Born in 1992? You're now a freshman in college...what?

2010-08-18T11:15:00.003-05:00

A school in Wisconsin just released some details about the students in the US now entering college. It's hard to believe they were born in 1992. I now feel old.

It's fascinating to read some of the things that have always been (or never been) in their lifetime. For instance, when they were born - Bill Clinton was being elected to his first presidency and hard drives on their computers had the capacity of flash drives now...of course they've always had computers.

There are several other points of interest worth checking out. You can read the article here.

Youth Ministry Today

2010-08-12T13:55:00.003-05:00

There is an interesting (and saddening) article in USA Today that looks at recent surveys of teens and their involvement in church youth groups. You can read the article here.

One of the biggest statements, to me, made in the actual article is "Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999." That's eleven years! That's incredibly revealing.

If you get a chance to check out the article, it is worthwhile to read through the comments as well. Some are very insightful, honest, and personal. Many have shared their own experiences about their time as a teen in a church youth group. Most are not very complementary.

"Christian" Marketing

2010-08-09T10:18:00.003-05:00

I've struggled with how churches market themselves in their communities ever since I got to see the behind-the-scenes planning and brainstorming sessions. On one hand, I can understand getting the word out to as many people as possible that you're doing something that you believe will make a difference in their lives...possibly even introduce them to LIFE. However, I have often wondered how much of it comes from sincerity and a surrendering to the Spirit to lead in this and how much of it comes from ego and a desire to be more "successful" in ministry.

I haven't given it much thought in a few years but I just received a catalog from a very well-known and widely used organization that produces materials for churches. The thing that stuck out to me the most from this catalog is that in large letters, just above the address area (so the first thing you see when you open your mailbox) is "Groups will grow your church!"

This just seems to scream that those producing these materials know (or at least firmly believe) that the thing on the forefront of pastors' minds is to "grow your church." Of all the things that could be said to get a pastor's attention, this is what they felt best described why a church should buy their material!

This post is not to throw pastors under the bus or call anyone out. I know there are pastors who are surrendered to God and serving because they are called. I also know there are plenty of pastors who aren't in ministry primarily to "grow your church." I also recognize the value of a church that is growing and the importance of more people coming to the faith and finding that in the exchange of their dead life for His abundant life, they gain everything.

My problem is that this marketing slogan from this organization doesn't communicate any of that. I think it's a telling slogan because the first thing you see is supposed to grab your attention, speak to a deep desire that you have, and promise to fulfill that desire. That's marketing.

So, this organization apparently feels that the thing that would make a pastor open this catalog and be tempted to buy its material is the promise that if they "build great groups" that these "groups will grow your church!"

IMPACT

2010-06-14T13:35:00.003-05:00

This past week I was at IMPACT Camp. It was an incredible week. This was my second year to write the material for the small groups and personal devotions as well as teach during the big group times. The bond that God has been forming between this group from Temple Bible Church, my family, and me is very special.

Each night, I was able to see in their faces that God was revealing Himself to them and showing them who they have become in Him! It is deeply enjoyable to see students realize that they're identity isn't in their failures, successes, peer group, or appearance but in Christ alone.

One student came up to me after the third night and told me that his belief system was changing - from believing lies about himself and about God to believing truth! A few others students expressed how amazing they felt as they released their burdens to Christ and focused on Him instead of what their circumstances.

During some of the time set aside for testimonies, I was encouraged to hear the students embracing their identity in Christ and how it was affecting how they see themselves. They began to believe 2 Corinthians 5:21 - that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ because we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), Zechariah 13:9 - that we are His and He is ours, and Colossians 3:3 - that we have died and our lives is hidden with God in Christ.

Not only were these students responsive and open to the teaching times, but they were wonderful with my kids. Several of them reached out to over and over again to each of my kids and would play with them, making them feel like they were a part of the camp with the students.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the camp experience.

Served

2010-03-03T21:34:00.005-06:00

What does it mean to you to be served? I've been thinking over this for a few days, as God has revealed some passages to me that connect in ways I never realized before.

Jesus says in Mark 10:45, that He came not to be served but to serve. Then, in Acts 17:24-28 we read that God is not served by humanity, nor does He need anything from us as He is complete in and of Himself. He doesn't live in anything we have made but does live in what He has made - believers in Christ.

Our role in this life isn't about serving God, as if He needed us to serve Him (Acts 17:24-28), but rather allowing Him to serve us and others through us. When I first started thinking about these passages and how they fit together, it was difficult thinking it could be true. It just sounded weird to me that I can let Jesus "serve" me. I'm sure that's a little of how the disciples felt when Jesus grabbed the bowl of water, bent over, and began washing their feet.

A New Creation - Song from the '80's

2010-01-07T00:30:00.001-06:00

Some Dude's Testimony

2010-01-07T00:14:00.003-06:00

This guy is one of the band members in "Allison Krauss and Union Station" and shares about how he came to learn of his identity in Christ.

Facing the Sun

2009-12-18T17:46:00.004-06:00

This morning was an incredibly foggy morning in our town. My family and I woke up earlier than usual because it was going to be a busy day and our oldest needed some pj's to wear to school for pj day. So, she and I loaded up a little before 7:00 and headed to the store. We could barely see anything!

It was extremely thick, and when we crossed the dam on our way home visibility may have been 15 yards. My daughter, who is 6, was fascinated and curious. We talked a lot about how neat the fog was but how there was a serious downside to it: you can't see through it.

As we headed to her school, the fog wasn't relenting but the sun was starting to rise. It was beautiful through the fog to watch it elevate into the sky. Then, something amazing happened to us. After reaching an intersection in our neighborhood, we turned right and headed towards the sunrise. The moment we turned and headed directly toward the sunset, the fog was lifted in front of us. It wasn't gradual, it was instantaneous. After reaching another intersection, I looked to my left and to my right and saw fog again. The visibility was a little better but the fog was definitely still there.

The more this scene played through my mind today the more I realized this is a picture of what it looks like for us to fix our eyes on Jesus. When we're walking around in a state of independence, it's like driving through the dense fog and not really knowing what is all around you. You're just trying to make it through safely.

But when you have turned toward Jesus and set your focus on Him, walking in a state of dependence on Him, you can experience His rest as He guides you down the road of life and you enjoy all that He shows you.

The moment my eyes shifted direction off of where the sun was, there was fog. The moment we turned to go in a different direction, away from the sun, we experienced what it was like to be in the fog. The only break we experienced from the confusion, blindness, and hazard that the fog brought with it was when we were headed towards to sun: fixed on it.

Support/Update Letter

2009-12-17T23:43:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a wonderful year for LIFe Ministries and for us as a family. God has continued to grow LIFe Ministries and unite our family as we journey along this adventure of faith, learning dependence on Christ along the way. Our goal for LIFe Ministries is to proclaim the beautiful news that true fullness in life is found only in Jesus, and that our relationship with Him brings freedom, peace, joy, and love.

We are particularly thrilled about God's expansion of LIFe Ministries among college students. This past fall, Matt spoke and wrote the curriculum for a college retreat held in Southeast Texas. Recently, we received this message from Curtis, a college student who attended this event:

“God has really been working on me all semester with what your talk was about during the retreat about our identity and comfort in Christ alone. It seems to be a theme for me...thanks for allowing God to use you in my life, you certainly started and introduced a lesson to me that God has continually been teaching me about ever since.”

In addition to weekend retreats, we are also engaging numerous students and adults in weekly discipleship. This has been the most vibrant and encouraging area for LIFe Ministries because we get to see Christ revealing Himself to others and transforming their lives on a regular basis.

Currently, we are in the process of re-designing our website and much of our promotional material in order to reflect our expansion among college students (C-LIFe) and parenting (P-LIFe). We hope these new resources will be valuable for churches in 2010.

God has increased our supporter base this year and strengthened our partnerships with churches. LIFe Ministries will continue to be a grace-based ministry, operating financially as God provides through individuals, like-minded organizations, and churches. Raising support for this ministry and our salaries has been a humbling and incredible experience for us. Whether you have given financially or supported LIFe through prayer, we thank you and we thank God for how He has moved you to partner with us. Your partnership with us is absolutely critical.

2010 will be the fourth year of LIFe Ministries, and it continues to function like a local missions organization. We serve, minister, and share the gospel of Life in Christ, while God uses supporters who share our heart for this ministry to provide the largest part of our financial provision. While we do not have enough regular financial supporters to cover the budget, God continues to bring in support when it is needed. Most often, God's provision for our needs comes from one of you and for that we are deeply grateful. We know that in the current economic climate, it is a significant act of trust to partner with us financially.

Please continue praying for us and LIFe Ministries. This is critical work in a culture longing to find significance, purpose, and meaning in life. Also, please pray about becoming a monthly, quarterly, or annual financial supporter of LIFe Ministries if you are not already. If you know of anyone who may be interested in hearing more about this ministry, please contact us. If you wish to contribute financially to LIFe Ministries for 2009, you will need to postmark your check by December 31, 2009, for tax purposes.

It is an honor to partner with you in this ministry. We are praying for you and praying for transformation in our world. Thank you for being a partner in LIFe.

Grace and Peace,

Matt and Dani
LIFe Ministries
www.liveinfreedom.org
254.913.5012

Mindy - A Story of Life-Change from Weekly Discipleship:

“I've been a Christian for 27 years. My faith has always been very strong, and my beliefs have always tended toward legalism. That's how I was raised, and it sort of worked well with my Type A personality. When you're legalistic and you "achieve", you can feel good about yourself...momentarily. But all the moments in between were miserable. I have loved God... truly, truly loved Him, for as long as I can remember. I have been desperate to please Him and to please people. I've been desperate to be accepted by Him and by people. I have worked and served and given and done and tried until I was exhausted, frustrated, and discouraged. Because I wasn't ever quite good enough to accept myself...so surely God couldn't be pleased with me and what could others possibly find in me that was worthy? After all those years, I did not understand my identity in Christ. I mean, I could teach about our identity in Christ to a group of girls or a Sunday school class...I'm pretty sure I actually have, but I didn't get it and I didn't even realize that I didn't get it! I was 32 with both feet firmly planted on the Performance Treadmill, running full speed ahead and getting nowhere. And I was convinced that's what Christianity was. The "Freedom" and "Grace" messages I had been exposed to came from people that looked nothing like Jesus to me, so I instantly dismissed them as false doctrine to the point I think I was even a little put off by the terms themselves! If Freedom and Grace meant giving yourself permission to live a self-centered and sinful lifestyle, I wasn't interested.

It was last year after a three-hour conversation over coffee with Dani that I first heard about "Be Transformed." I was burnt-out, tired, frustrated, and Dani shared with me that she and Matt were going to be taking a group through this awesome Bible study that changed their lives. My husband and I ended up going through the study, and God used that time, that study, Matt and Dani, to answer so many of the questions I had been asking for so many years. For the first time in my life, I understand who I am. I get it! And for the first time, I heard someone speak of grace and freedom without just stopping there and saying...now we can do whatever we want and it doesn't matter. They added the missing piece of the puzzle...because of grace and freedom, Christ is able to live His life through us as we REST and trust in His adequacy to do so. I have been through more Bible studies than I can count and have even led more than I can count, but I have never been transformed by one like this before. I am changed, and am so grateful that God heard my questions and purposed Matt and Dani into my family's life in order to answer them. Wow...what an amazing God.”

Upcoming Events:

-January 8-10 Winter Retreat at Camp Tejas for Grace Bible Church in Killeen, TX
-January 15-17 DiscipleNow at First United Methodist Church in Temple, TX
-February 12-14 Winter Retreat at Faith Bible Church in Boerne, TX
-February 20-21 DiscipleNow at Trinity Baptist Church in Harker Heights, TX
-March 26-28 DiscipleNow at First Baptist Church in Laredo, TX

If you feel led to support Living In Freedom Ministries, please visit www.liveinfreedom.org and click on "Our Support." Or just click here.

Living In Freedom Ministries is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

This Is Who I Am by Shane & Shane

2009-11-06T22:13:00.003-06:00

This past Tuesday, Shane & Shane released their latest album - Everything Is Different. It's incredible! Probably my favorite track is called "This Is Who I Am." I've posted the lyrics to the song below and will post the actual song when I can find it online.

It's REALLY good!

----------------------------

I am a new creation,
the old is passed away
and I’m made new
I’m made new.

And I have been adopted,
the door is opened up
for me to know you
be like you

This is who I am
I’ve been born again
the Cross is my defense, my hope secured
now my life is in Your Hand
on Your every word I stand
Lord I’m finding who I am in all you are

When my heart condemns me
tells me I am guilty
Your greater
Your greater

Jesus you have searched me,
and even in your finding
You have loved
and You love me

This is who I am
I’ve been born again
the Cross is my defense, my hope secured
now my life is in Your Hand
on Your every word I stand
Lord I’m finding who I am in all you are

For He mad Him who knew no sin
To be sent
On our behalf was crucified
Oh that we could be the righteousness
Of our creator

I am a new creation,
the old is passed away
and I’m made new
I’m made new.

This is who I am
I’ve been born again
the Cross is my defense, my hope secured
now my life is in Your Hand
on Your every word I stand
Lord I’m finding who I am in all you are

This is who I am
I’ve been born again
the Cross is my defense, my hope secured
now my life is in Your Hand
on Your every word I stand
Lord I’m finding who I am in all you are

What to do when...

2009-11-04T21:28:00.004-06:00

Sloth, again I thank you for the comment and questions. I love the dialogue we have going on and enjoy knowing your thoughts. I can understand how the things I teach can appear as you have said, that I "make it sound like Jesus puts on a Matt suit or a Scott suit and we become puppets."

The key element in this is that puppets don't have a choice. They can't say to the puppet master that he/she isn't allowed to move their mouths or make them appear alive.

What Jesus does in those who believe is much more than putting on a suit or becoming a puppet master. He simply becomes our life so that the life we live in the flesh we live by faith in Christ, for we died with Christ and have been resurrected in Him as well (Galatians 2:20).

While we have the choice, we are nothing apart from Him so to choose to live independently of the One who is Life would be choose nothing. It may appear to others that we're doing something and we may even think to ourselves that we are choosing something but if it's not Christ, it's not life, and it's just nothing. There will be no experienced peace, true hope, deep understanding, or honest fulfillment apart from Christ.

The Christian life isn't passive. There is a moral choice of the will that we make. The choice is in every moment - dependence on the active, living, loving, powerful Creator-God who has united Himself with all who believe and made us partakers of His nature (2 Peter 1:4) or independence from Him.

So, what are we to do when we various things come up in our lives? The next question you've posed is a great one. "Does depending on Christ mean that we have no responsibility to act?" More specifically, "Suppose I have more bills than I have money. Does depending on Christ mean I sit around doing my usual routine and wait for him to mail me a check, or do I look for avenues to up my income (part time jobs, selling stuff, whatever) and then depend on God to provide through those avenues?"

To best address this question, I want to start with a point that is absolutely critical to this discussion. Is the problem yours or is it Christ's? If it's yours, then you have to figure something out. After all, it's your problem and it needs to be solved. However, if it is Christ's problem, then it's His job to supply the need. It's our right to trust Him.

Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that it means we don't do anything. We trust. This trust is active. We trust that He is good, living, and living through us in this situation. We can respond in a manner like this: "Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to trust you. I don't know what you desire for me through this situation but I trust you to always be enough for me. Whatever way you desire to bring your provision for this need I thank you and trust you to bring it. If that means I need to get another job, thank you. If that means I sit and wait for a check in the mail, thank you. It's not up to me to determine how you provide but I choose to trust you to do so as you alone are my provider."

I know from first-hand experience that He is faithful. I know from first-hand experience that His provision doesn't always come from the same place and it's hardly ever where it might be expected.

Each moment is ours to trust Him in and every difficulty is His to deal with as we trust. We get to cast all our cares on Him so that they are actually His cares and not ours any longer. As we live in this mindset, we live in a constant state of dependence on Him as our sole provider, thanking Him for how He creatively provides for our physical needs, whether it be through a job, several jobs, or other people, or some other avenue.

Regardless of the situation, we can choose to either trust Him and allow Him to handle it or we can start trying to figure out how to best manage the situation and hope that He blesses our efforts. Life is found in one option. Frustration, anxiety, stress, pain, and fear are found in the other.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this...and thanks again for reading and inviting me to clarify what I teach!

Everything by Tim Hughes

2009-10-29T00:18:00.004-05:00

This has to be one of my all time favorite songs, the lyrics are incredible! I hope you enjoy...

Everything from justin pae on Vimeo.

Christ in me, the hope of glory!

Great Question...

2009-09-29T14:13:00.008-05:00

In case you've missed it, this question stems from my previous post: "If we are new creatures in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit, incapable of being snatched out of His hand, then is it even possible to live apart from Christ; to live in a state of non-dependence on Him?"

It's true, we are "new creatures in Christ" as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "sealed with the Holy Spirit" as we read in Ephesians 1:13, and "incapable of being snatched out of His hand" as we can read in John 10:28-29. While all of this is true and clearly described in the Scriptures, it is also true that we still have a moral choice in regards to our daily lives. This choice doesn't affect our identity, as being alive in Christ, but it does directly affect our daily experience.

After one has become a "new creation" in Christ, to live in a "state of non-dependence on Him" is to live in sin...i.e. not in faith. We are still united with Christ in our spirit, however our soul is engaged in dependence on the flesh (or false life). Living in this state directly affects our quality of life and how we interpret the situations we face as well as how we react to them.

In a sense, it is impossible to "live in a state of independence" since we are in constant union with Christ. However, after we are joined in this union with Him, the journey is only beginning. The rest of our lives is the journey toward deeper dependence and surrender. Each moment brings the choice: to depend on Christ or something/someone else. Christ life, nothing and no one else is.

Sorry it took so long to respond, Sloth. I've had this sitting as a draft for about a month... :)

Look At That Hand...

2009-09-14T14:10:00.009-05:00

The past few months have been crazy for me. One thing has been going through my mind regularly since the beginning of August and it all began while I was listening to over 1 Corinthians 12, particularly starting in verse 12 and going through verse 27. This whole passage is about how we are the body of Christ and each member of the body being critical to the whole.

Each person who is a new creation in Christ is one, though there is great diversity in what His life in each one looks like as Christ lives through those who believe in Him...just as a body is one and made up of different parts.

The main thought that has been floating around my mind is how easy it is to look at, let's say a hand, and see all that it's doing. We can see it with our eyes. If you just look at a hand, you can see potential...after all there is so much that a hand can do.

However, a hand removed from it's source of life is inadequate and unable to do anything. Just like Jesus saying that apart from the Father, He can do nothing (John 5:19, 30; John 8:28), He also says of us, "apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Removed from our Source from life (Jesus), we can do nothing. Even though our schedules may be over-loaded and our lives crazy busy, apart from Christ it all amounts to nothing. The end result for us will always lead to exhaustion, a longing for something more, and discontentment. Why? Because we are nothing apart from Christ.

Just as the hand can't operate without blood flowing through it, we can't really live independent of Christ flowing through us! We'll never experience life fully apart from Christ because He is Life and His Life is abundant (John 14:6, John 10:10).

May we live dependent on our Life-Source and focus on Him (Hebrews 12:2) instead of the deeds we see done. Without Him, we're like a hand disconnected from the body, void of blood. There may be potential, but it will never be realized without Christ...the One who is our life (Colossians 3:4).

"The Furious Longing of God"

2009-08-22T13:40:00.004-05:00

I've been a fan of Brennan Manning's writings for several years but I think his latest book, The Furious Longing of God, is the best yet. I haven't even finished it yet but there has already been so much incredible truth in it that it has topped The Ragamuffin Gospel for me. Here is a little just to give you a glimpse at the incredible story he tells:

"Both theology, which is faith seeking understanding, and spirituality, which is the faith-experience of what we understand intellectually, offer a glimpse into the mystery...But then there's also that word Chesterton used: union. That's one of the most explosive words in my Christian vocabulary. The daring metaphor of Jesus as bridegroom suggests that the living God seeks more than an intimate relationship with us. The reckless, raging fury of Yahweh culminates, dare we say it, in a symbiotic fusion, a union so substantitive that the apostle Paul would write:

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20 NASB).

In a fascinating footnote to that verse, the Jerusalem Bible adds: "The living acts of a Christian become somehow the acts of Christ." (Gulp!)"

In speaking of Song of Solomon 7:10 which is "I am my beloved's, and His desire is for me," Manning writes:

"When you take those words personally, I mean very personally, a number of beautiful things come to pass:

-The drumbeats of doom in your head will be replaced by a song in your heart, which could lead to a twinkle in your eye.
-You will not be dependent on the company of others to ease your loneliness, for He is Emmanuel--God with us.
-The praise of others will not send your spirit soaring, nor will their criticism plunge you into the pit. Their rejection may make you sick, but it will not be a sickness unto death.
-In a significant interior development, you will move from I should pray to I must pray.
-You will live with an awareness that the Father not only loves you, but likes you.
-You will stop comparing yourself with others. In the same way, you will not trumpet your own importance, boast about your victories in the vineyard, or feel superior to anyone.
-You will read Zephaniah 3:17-18 and see God dancing for joy because of you (the Jerusalem Bible translation is accurate).
-Off and on throughout the day, you will just know that you are being seen by Jesus with a gaze of infinite tenderness.

I am a witness to these truths."

Alright, those are some incredible passages! This is the clearest I've read of Manning's work that not only beautiful describes the indescribable grace of God but in this book he is also unpacking the unbelievable reality of His union in the believer. It's the exchanged life, the Christ-life, the Christ in you...whatever you want to call it--it's life, and it's beautiful! I'm so thankful for the furious longing of God and for how He's expressing His longing for His creation through Manning in this little book.

You're Everything

2009-08-18T23:02:00.003-05:00

This song by David Crowder Band has been a powerful song in my life for several years now. I usually listen to it on repeat for weeks at a time and it never seems to get old. I just watched this video and cried through most of it.

Oh Jesus, You're everything! You're it...more than the knowledge of You, You alone are everything. Thank YOU!

Why Are We Still Here?

2009-07-14T11:30:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine, Sloth, asked this question:

Why do you suppose God made us physical beings in the first place? Why weren't the angels enough? And once we become 'spirit beings' why do we have to keep having this 'human experience'? Why can't we just live the life we are ultimately destined for?

He also offered this:

I know many will say we have to stay human to help others become 'spirit beings'. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with that answer though. What do you think?

I'm in the same boat as Sloth in that I'm not all that satisfied with the typical answer about us staying here solely to help others become alive in Christ...while I do find that in important element of our continued life in the flesh.

Honestly, I think this question is WAY over my head and I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. For me, this question goes all the way back to Genesis 1 and 2. Why did God create humanity in the first place? For in that I think we may find why we continue on in the flesh after we are made new in Christ.

Maybe we remain on simply because it is God's good pleasure to have us relate with Him, choosing Him over all the other things that used to captivate our attention and hearts...allowing Him to shower our souls with His river of life from our core as we experience the reality of His life in us and through us in this world.

Maybe He enjoys living His life in us and through us so much that it's enjoyable for Him to keep us here so that we continue learning the life of dependence, getting to experience His life in the flesh which is completely unattainable apart from Himself.

I think a by-product of His life in us is His life through us to others, ushering others into His life as well...which is critical as far as His desire to bring everyone to Life, but not necessarily the primary reason for why we are still here.

I'd love to hear more thoughts and continue this discussion with any who so desire to engage. Sloth, what do you think?

When Feelings Are Absent

2009-07-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

How difficult life is to enjoy when feelings of comfort, security, peace, acceptance, adequacy, and importance are lacking! As we live in the human condition, we will all experience life void of such feelings at times. So, what do we do when we feel alone, unacceptable, inadequate, insecure, and devalued? How can a God whom we can't see and whom we can't feel the touch of His arms wrapping around us to hold us be enough in these moments? How can this God make His reality our reality when our soul is longing for a connection?

Faith.

Faith in what? How might this faith look? And how can faith in an unseen (and often un-felt) God become more real to us than our circumstances and emotions, which we see, touch, feel, and experience in every moment?

The life of faith doesn't make practical sense. Living in faith isn't living in the hope that the best will turn out, but instead is confident that God is enough in each moment and that He uses every situation in the very best way for us. Often times, that means that the very best thing for us is pain, sorrow, disappointment, and frustration...because life is only truly lived in dependence on Jesus, not on ourselves. Each difficulty, as well as each triumph, is an invitation to depend on Jesus to be enough for us in that moment.

However, our emotions and thoughts are powerful. Often times, we may feel that we're alone. No matter how we try to convince ourselves otherwise, the strength of this feeling may be too strong to change. How does "trusting in God" or "fixing our eyes on Jesus" affect these feelings?

Well, God changes everything. When we become a new creation in Christ, we are no longer mere human beings trying to have a spiritual experience but have become spirit beings having a human experience. Our focus is able to shift off of ourselves and whatever positive or negative situation we may be in. Our focus is able to shift to Christ in each moment. He is our life. He is our everything and He is with us in the midst of each moment.

He's always enough, even when we don't feel this reality. He has changed us, in the core of who we are, so that in everything we have hope, life, peace, joy, love, patience, rest, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness, and endurance.

This is the life of faith: that regardless of what we feel, we trust. We don't trust in ourselves but in Christ alone. He is life. He is truth. He is love. And He is our everything.

Grace and Peace.

The Sufficiency of Christ

2009-06-24T11:13:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine recently wrote about this topic - The Sufficiency of Christ - in which he details how Christ isn't sufficient. He isn't saying that God is not holy, just, righteous, the Giver of life, or anything like that. Here are a few paragraphs from his original post:

No, God created us to be dependent creatures. Yes, we are dependent. ( It’s quite humorous when we act like we’re these autonomous and independent things that need nothing and no one. The reality is that these people who are so called "independent" place their trust in the power of work and the dollar bill more than God.) Part of worship is recognizing who we are in relation to God. So we must recognize our dependency in order to live lives that are pleasing to God...

It is irresponsible of us to act like we need nothing in this world but Jesus. It is even more immoral to act like we don't have a responsibility to helping our brothers and sisters out. We can't use the excuse that "God will meet their needs." Yes, God has created a means to supply our needs. But that means is quite oftentimes me and you. We cannot simply be sponges that suck everything up. We must give back and pour out.

I think my friend has a point worth noting, however I must disagree with the explanation of this point.

Jesus is sufficient. Every need we have is met in Him. He's the beginning and the end, as well as everything in between. It must be this way (as Jesus Himself claimed to be "the way, the truth, and the life..") We were created to live completely dependent upon Him. That's how we can not only survive but thrive in the midst of persecution in isolation (not that I've personally experienced this). He is enough.

Now, as for us living in community (not just spiritual but physical as well), Jesus lives through us to meet the needs of those around us. The crucial point to embrace here is that He is the One meeting the needs - He's using our bodies to do so but He is the life in us, the motivator in us, the giver through us...it begins and ends with Him for if we live, it's Christ living in us living through us in this world.

My friend is correct: We are dependent beings. We are completely dependent upon Christ for life, provision, protection, acceptance, identity, and love. We tell our children often that God is always with them and will always take care of them...even if when they experience discomfort, physical harm, or feel all alone. The reality is they are safe and secure in Christ.

I see the reality of this in the biblical account of Paul and Silas in prison. They may have physically been in chains but they were free, protected, and secure...full of life, peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and at rest. How was this possible? It wasn't because they were meeting each others needs but rather finding their entire life in Christ. Their starting point was not this physical reality but instead their spiritual reality.

Bill Loveless says, "When we become believers in Christ, we are no longer human beings having a spiritual experience but instead have become spirit beings having a human experience." Christ has changed everything! He's done it and He is always enough. We don't just cling to His death for us but also to His resurrected life given to us to live in us so that we now may truly live.

This isn't merely semantics to me. In my opinion, my friend is responding to abuses he has seen in the Christian sub-culture to this phrase: "the sufficiency of Christ." He accurately explains that it would be "irresponsible" of us to use Jesus as an excuse for inactivity at injustice. It is precisely because of Jesus that we would act on behalf of others! However, I wouldn't describe it as us acting but rather Jesus Himself acting through us...expressing His life that He is living in us through us to the world around us.

Our starting point must always be Christ. Not just as the One turn to when we need help but at every moment. He is life - He alone is life. For us to carry the idea that we are taking care of others does not lead to Christ but to ourselves. If Christ isn't our recognized Source of life and way of living this life then it is ourselves - and our flesh will carry that straight to pride. We will be able to look to others and see how much better we are at social justice, evangelism, or whatever standard we choose to focus on at the time.

I value my friend and enjoy reading his thoughts...I am almost always left thinking more about what he writes. It's for that reason that I write this post.

May we "fix our eyes on Jesus" and allow Him to be our everything so that He may live through us in our communities and world. He is enough and it's His desire for us to experience His full life and for others to see His full life through us. However, this cannot be achieved through human effort or self-determination. He's the Giver, we're always the receiver. As we receive from Him, He begins giving through us to others - while never ceasing to give to us as well.

I'd love to continue the discussion with any else (and my friend) if so desired.

Grace and Peace.

Treasure

2009-06-13T20:57:00.000-05:00

Youth, Movies, and Sex

2009-06-03T10:30:00.002-05:00

Here is a little quote from an article about a recent study by the Children's Hospital Boston:

The results of the study were presented recently at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore. The study followed 754 kids first in childhood and again five years later when they were aged 12 to 18. According to the data, earlier exposure to adult content correlated to the earlier sexual activity in the teenage years.
Every hour of adult-targeted television or movies seen by the kids over two sample days when they were between 6 and 8 years old, correlated to a 33% increased risk of sexual activity in early adolescence.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Great Tool For Parents

2009-05-27T10:09:00.004-05:00

LG recently created an application/website where you can type in what your teen is texting/writing and it will translate it for you.

It's very easy to use and can definitely be extremely useful for parents who want to know what their child is communicating to others via text, AIM, facebook, MySpace, and any other social networking site.

Really, you should check this out!

Spiritual Maturity

2009-05-12T00:50:00.003-05:00

There is a new study released by The Barna Group that deals with how churchgoers define spiritual maturity. You can read the actual findings here.

It's rather saddening to me that the first point made is that "Most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules."

Wow...that's so off the mark of the Gospel! There is a ton of stuff to think about in regards to this study. I'll write more on some of the other points another time. In the mean time, I'd love to here some of your thoughts. Check it out and let me know what you think...

Grace/Peace.

Some Great Thoughts...

2009-05-07T12:59:00.002-05:00

I read stuff from CPYU all the time. I'm definitely a big fan of the resources they provide to parents and those who work with students. If you are even remotely insterested in youth and the student generation/culture, www.cpyu.org is a great site to get you important information.

On Walt Mueller's blog (the head guy at CPYU) a few days ago, he wrote some interesting thoughts about the transition from high school to college. He asked the guy who co-authored "The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness" to list the top 5 concerns he has for youth ministry in regards to the transition from high school to college.

It's defnitely worth taking some time to read through and consider what he included on his list. You can read the full post here.

Swinging

2009-05-01T15:20:00.000-05:00

More on Texting

2009-04-24T10:58:00.002-05:00

This is an interesting little story about some of the code used by teens via text messaging. I find the "expert's" opinions on how to handle this issue rather amusing, but thought the video was informative overall.

Instead of living in fear of how our children are communicating, this is yet another invitation by the Lover of our souls to depend on Him and trust Him to love and raise our children. He is capable and willing to do so.

Self-Control Not "Natural"

2009-04-10T13:53:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week I was talking with some friends and mentioned how I've always found it interesting that "self-control" is listed in Galatians 5:23, in the part where Paul is writing about the fruit of the Spirit.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."

Even the act of exhibiting self-control is unattainable for us apart from the Holy Spirit! We can try, and we will end up exhausted because it boils down to us, in our own ability, trying to accomplish something. We weren't created to accomplish anything on our own, only as we live in dependence on Jesus will we begin experiencing rest, life, and self-control in each moment.

I'm writing about these thoughts now because I came across an article today about a study recently done at Yale University. You can read the full article here.

Their research led them to this conclusion:

"self-control not only wears us down, even thinking about other people's self-control is too much to handle."

Thank You, Jesus, that as we wear ourselves out, trying to be good people who exhibit "self-control," that you invite us to come to You and find rest of our souls (Matthew 11:28-29)...and experience true self-control that is produced from our dependence on You as You have put Your Holy Spirit in us, to live through us.

Interesting Article on "Sexting"

2009-04-08T14:20:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot of press lately on this new activity youth are engaging in called "sexting." In case you haven't heard, it's when someone sends a picture (with very little or no clothes on at all) to someone else's phone, basically it's a picture text message.

Anyway, a student in Florida has been convicted of felony charges on sending child pornography. He and his girlfriend had been in an argument, and in his anger, he sent to her friends a picture she had sent to him.

He is now on the sex offenders list in Florida.

The article is an interesting read and gives some insight into the student's thoughts. The most intriguing statement to me, though, came from the dude's lawyer.

"Alpert's attorney Larry Walters agrees and he's fighting to get Alpert removed from Florida's sex offender registry. The law lags behind the technology, he says. "Sexting is treated as child pornography in almost every state and it catches teens completely offguard because this is a fairly natural and normal thing for them to do. It is surprising to us as parents, but for teens it's part of their culture.""

I can understand that this may be a "part of their culture," but that doesn't make it "fairly natural and normal" to me. I'm sure this isn't the last article we'll see on this topic...

Read the full article here.

Rooted Weekend

2009-03-27T01:38:00.003-05:00

Last weekend (March 20-22) my family and I were in San Antonio at Grace Point Church for the Student Ministry's DiscipleNow Weekend called "Rooted." It was INCREDIBLE!

We got there a little rushed Friday night. We hit traffic which made the three hour trip more than a four hour trip. As we were getting closer to San Antonio, I felt increasingly rushed and bothered by the traffic. My plan had been to get to Bill and Paige's house by 3:30, unpack, chat a bit with Bill and Paige, and head up to Grace Point at 5:00 to have a little time to rest, gather my thoughts, and get mentally prepared for the weekend. However, we pulled into Bill and Paige's driveway around 4:45. By the time we had the car unloaded, it was already 5:10, which meant I would barely make it to Grace Point by 5:30, the time that the leader meeting was to start.

I write all that to say things weren't going as I had planned. However, God put this question in my mind:

"Am I enough for you, or do you really need your plan to work out for this weekend to go well?"

As this question bounced around my mind, I began choosing Him over my plan, trusting Him to accomplish what He desired for the weekend and to have me ready when it started. What I realize now is that it was a choice for Him in the moment, to have me live in the moment of being in the car with my family, instead of distracted by how the schedule was changing. Praise God that He is always enough!

The rest of the weekend was incredible. The music the band chose lined up well with the messages, the youth pastor rested in Christ during the weekend, and the students engaged in both the music and the messages throughout the weekend. Dani and I led separate guy/girl times as well as co-led a parenting conference. One of the parents at this conference said, "Finally, the dots are connecting for me!" Several of the parents who attended the parenting conference Saturday afternoon came back up Saturday night to attend the worship service we did for the students at the DiscipleNow.

This was probably the best weekend I've been a part of since we started this ministry. The response of the students, parents, and other leaders during the weekend encouraged me greatly but more than that, I trusted and depended on Jesus to be enough. I worshiped during the sessions, instead of trying to make sure I had everything just right for the messages. I trusted that Jesus would speak to the students' "inner being" throughout the weekend (the key verses were Ephesians 3:14-19, where Paul writes about our "inner being")...and He did.

Our time with Bill and Paige was wonderful as well. Our older two girls stayed with them Saturday while Dani and I taught and they loved every minute of it. It is always encouraging for me to spend time with them and I loved that the rest of my family was able to come this time. God speaks through them to Dani and me every time we're around them. Such a blessing to our souls! If you haven't done so already, check out www.christislifeministries.com, this is the ministry Jesus is doing through Bill.

God is moving through LIFe Ministries! It is amazing to see Him reveal His life to students and adults.

75% "Jesus Fish," 25% "Darwin Fish"

2009-03-17T03:49:00.002-05:00

This video was made after this study came out about the "Christian Religion" declining in America. I thought this was an interesting video and concept for art...

I'm Singing

2009-03-12T10:58:00.004-05:00

I found this video at Tangle (formerly known as GodTube). I went there to watch this video that I found while reading Steve McVey's blog. Honestly, I haven't spent much time on that site, but this video was powerful to me. I hope you enjoy it as well and are encouraged as you watch and listen.

The Survey Says...

2009-03-09T13:48:00.004-05:00

There is a new survey coming out about religion in America. You can read an article about the survey here.

Here is one of the segments I found interesting in the article:

"The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.

About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal God at the core of monotheistic faiths. And, since 1990, a slightly greater share of respondents — 1.2 percent — said they were part of new religious movements, including Scientology, Wicca and Santeria.

The study also found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don't belong to a denomination or play down their membership in a religious group."

Take some time to read through the article and come back here, leave a commnent, and let me know what your thoughts are on all of this...

Grace and Peace.

More from Today

2009-03-06T16:56:00.001-06:00

Here's another clip from the Today Show. Some teens share what they think about the internet, what they do on the internet, and what they think about parents on the internet...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Oh My!

2009-03-06T16:10:00.005-06:00

Last fall, I spoke in Arkansas for their annual Fall Retreat. When I got there, the youth pastor shared that a big thing on the horizon with the youth he works with is that the boys are receiving text messages that contain inappropriate pictures of girls they go to school with.

Today, I found this article discussing what is now called "sexting" (defined as "sending sexually charged material via cell phone text messages or posting such materials online"). The numbers they report are staggering to me. If you have the time (and especially if you have a teen), please take the time to read this article!

A recent study quoted in the article shows:

-39% of teens send or post sexually suggestive messages.
-48% have received such messages.

Tragic.

Here is the segment on this story on the Today show:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Little Research Study on Sin

2009-02-26T13:30:00.004-06:00

I stumbled upon this article today and found it interesting. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

On top of the list of "deadly sins" that the Catholic church lists, they have added a few more to "modernize" the list. These new additions are:

genetic modification, experiments on the person, environmental pollution, taking or selling illegal drugs, social injustice, causing poverty and financial greed.

One of the closing statements of this article caught my attention. Pope Benedict said, last year, that "We are losing the notion of sin...If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm."

Interesting article/study/commentary on confession, sin, and approach of the Catholic church to deal with the changes and challenges that are coming to the surface thanks to the "era of unstoppable globalisation."

Check out the study and let me know what you think about it...

Steve McVey Blog

2009-02-25T23:12:00.003-06:00

Steve McVey, of Grace Walk Ministries, recently wrote about "Grace and Sin" on his blog. You can read it off of his blog site by clicking here, or just read it below. I've pasted it here because I thought it is such a great explanation of the beauty of the gospel and the magnitude of grace.

"Grace and Sin

Does teaching pure grace encourage sin in people's lives?

I've offered the following quote many times because I love it. The great Bible expositor, Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote:

The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel.

Works -- it always has been a hot topic in the church. It was the subject that triggered the revolution that led to reformation in Martin Luther’s day and it’s the subject that the growing grace revolution hinges on today, five centuries later. Despite the fact that the Apostle Paul himself said that works and grace are impossible to mix, those who speak out boldly against works-righteousness as the basis of Christian living had better be prepared for resistance. The religious world hasn’t changed since Paul’s day or, for that matter, even Luther’s day when he addressed the subject as it relates to salvation.

Some have argued that “going too far with grace” can cause people to grow lax about sin in their lives. They imagine the Summer Youth Trip at the Local Community Church turning into a “Girls Gone Wild” video. That kind of assumption is totally ungrounded in reality. It ranks right up there with “There’s a boogey-man under my bed.”

Grace doesn’t cause people to go wild in sin. That’s a ridiculous idea perpetuated by two groups of people: (1) Those who are fearful because they don’t trust the Holy Spirit inside other people to lead them and (2) those who are afraid that they will lose control over other people if they actually begin to believe this grace teaching is true.

You can’t go too far with grace. That’s like saying, “don’t go too far with Jesus.” Paul wrote in Romans 5:17 that it is by the abundance of grace that we learn how to reign in life. The real threat to the church isn’t that we will go too far with grace, but that we won’t go far enough. Paul told Titus that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodly behavior and empowers us to live like the righteous people we are. Show me somebody who is sinning and calling it grace and I’ll show you somebody who is telling a blatant lie. They’ve embraced disgrace and have given it a slanderous new name.

Do you feel an inner defense mechanism suddenly kick in when you are told about how works aren’t the basis of the Christian life? If so, I encourage you to ask yourself why. Is it because you’re afraid that grace might cause people to become lazy or even passive? Grace won’t do that. The Apostle Paul commented on his own level of work when he said, “I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul was willing to put his works ethic in the Christian life up against anybody. What was it that he said gave him such a strong motivation for works? It was the grace of God at work in him. You don’t have to be afraid that grace will make people lazy. True grace never does that. To the contrary, it motivates us toward authentic righteous works as opposed to mandating artificial religious works that only masquerade as being righteous."

-Written by Steve McVey on www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com

Ministry Update - January and February 2009

2009-02-23T16:01:00.001-06:00

Greetings from Living In Freedom! I am writing to share what God has been doing through Y-Life in the past few months.

Near the end of 2008, I spoke at a retreat for Faith Bible Church in Boerne, Texas. I have grown so close to this group that it feels like coming home each time I join one of their events. The students, ministers, parents, and other church members have embraced LIFe Ministries and have encouraged Dani and I greatly. It was a wonderful way to close out 2008.

In January, I spoke at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, TX to a group of parents involved in their youth’s DiscipleNow weekend. I spoke to them about how the pressure is off of them to raise their children because they can trust Christ in every moment and allow Him to live His life through them in every facet of their lives, including their parenting. I returned to Columbus Avenue a few weeks later and again enjoyed speaking to these youth parents.

One mom came up to me afterwards and told me that she was driving to the church in the morning and thinking that this event wasn’t going to be for her because her kids were already 24 and 21. She said, “I was wrong, God spoke to me. Thank you for coming.” A few other parents talked to me afterwards about the struggles they were currently facing with their teen and how encouraged they were after our time together. I could see the burden lifted off of parents’ shoulders as the Spirit spoke truth to them, and they began to experience rest for their souls.

At the end of January, I was able to go with the pastors of The Vista to a church innovators conference at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in the Dallas area. What an encouraging few days! The conference started out with a series of pastors sharing about the importance of risk and failure in our spiritual journeys and church activity. I was impressed with how God spoke through the senior pastor, Pete Briscoe. He led off the conference and spoke on how life is only found in Christ, and often, failure brings us to that realization. If you have time to listen to sermons during your week, I want to encourage you to listen to Pete’s. You can listen at www.btbf.com or find their podcast on iTunes.

As we look ahead, we have a few important events coming soon. Dani and I are starting a new “Be Transformed” group at our house. I am currently writing curriculum for two DiscipleNow weekends in March. Please pray for us during the planning and preparation process.

I am grateful to God for your support, encouragement, and interest in LIFe Ministries. God is engaging our soul in this ministry, and we are experiencing His life in us and through us. Please let us know how we can pray more specifically for you. Don’t forget to check out the LIFe Ministries blog (www.liveinfreedom-ylife.blogspot.com). You can subscribe to the blog by entering your e-mail address, which will allow us to send any blog updates to your inbox.

Also, you can join the Living In Freedom Ministries group on Facebook. It is another great way to stay up-to-date with ministry activity, as well as discuss topics or questions about living the Christian life and finding our identity in our union with Christ alone.

Grace and Peace,
matt

Enjoying the "I Am-ness" of Jesus

2009-02-09T10:45:00.003-06:00

A new friend of mine gave me a copy of a sermon that Major W. Ian Thomas preached years ago at a church in Texas. I can't listen to it enough! The words God speaks through Major Thomas are incredible, life-giving, and beautiful.

If you ever get a chance to listen to a sermon or message from Major Thomas, don't hesitate. It's not Thomas, it's Jesus in Thomas that is incredibly beautiful and challenging.

One of the things he mentions in this sermon is that who Jesus is for us in the moment will never be enough for tomorrow...but He will be enough tomorrow when tomorrow comes...but when tomorrow comes, it will be today...and Jesus is always enough for today. He talks about how often times we try to re-visit an experience with Jesus in the past. We try to recreate a spiritual high or "get back" to a time when we felt closest to God.

He says that we weren't created to "go back" but to enjoy the "I Am-ness" of Christ, which is enjoying Christ in the moment. In each moment, He is enough.

There is so much more he says that is worth noting but I won't continue at this time. It is SO good.

I am thankful to God for my new friend who lent me this cd and the message God delivered through His vessel, Major Thomas.

You can listen to other sermons that Major Thomas delivered here.

Innovation3 Gathering

2009-01-30T16:57:00.003-06:00

This past week, I went to the Innovation3 Gathering put on by Leadership Network and hosted by http://btbf.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=33300 in Carrollton, TX.

It was incredible. They had some of the biggest names in church leadership share their thoughts. The thing that struck me the most was that almost every speaker/pastor got up and spent a great deal of time making sure we (as listeners) knew that what was going on in the churches where they serve was more about God's activity than anything they were doing.

Pete Briscoe, the pastor at Bent Tree, kicked off the gathering with an incredible sermonette on failure.

Briscoe was raised in the Christ-life truths and his dad, Stuart Briscoe, has traveled the country for years proclaiming the truths of Christ's life in us, living through us in this world as He's united Himself with us in our spirit. Now, Pete Briscoe has Bent Tree on the journey of living out of the Christ-life reality.

He started off the gathering discussing the importance of failure in our lives and ministries because through failure, we learn dependence on God. The other speakers throughout the conference seemed to point back to this truth...some more clearly than others.

After this experience, my family and I are definitely going to find some time to visit Bent Tree on a Sunday morning and I hope the connection I've made with Pete will grow. This event was a huge blessing and encouragement to my soul.

Thank you to The Vista Community for inviting me to come! It was a blast for me to be there and spend that time with the pastoral staff from The Vista. I love you guys.

Grace & Peace.

Texting in Context

2009-01-29T09:40:00.003-06:00

Here is an article/blog about youth and texting, discussing whether or not it affects their ability to communicate properly. You can read the article and join the discussion with others who have read it by clicking here.

Here is a little taste of the article:

There was a hoax school essay produced in 2003 which was entirely written in texting abbreviations. Unfortunately, millions were taken in by it. Such things simply don’t happen. I work a lot with schools, and I often ask teachers to show me examples of textisms in schoolwork. They never can. I think I’ve been shown one example over the past two years, and that was a single instance of rushed writing. I ask the kids themselves would they ever use textisms in their writing. They look at me as if I’m nuts. “Why would you ever want to do that?” said one to me. “That would be stupid.” Quite so. You’d have to be pretty dumb to not see the difference between texting style and essay style. Or, putting this another way, teachers who let kids think the difference doesn’t matter wouldn’t be doing their job. And the same point applies to examinations. I’ve asked many examiners whether they have seen textisms in exam answers. The answer is always no. But ask joe public if kids use textisms in schoolwork and exams, and there is an almost universal yes. It’s extraordinary how these myths take hold of the public imagination.

It's pretty interesting, especially if you've wondered about the affects texting might have on writing, communicating, and overall interaction with students.

My New Favorite Song

2009-01-27T01:30:00.002-06:00

I've been listening to this song ALL weekend. It's been on my iPod for months but for some reason I finally stopped to listen to it...and it's blowing me away. I hope you enjoy it too!

It's called "Spring of Life" by Kristian Stanfill. You can get it on iTunes.

The Double Cross by Dan Stone

2009-01-20T14:49:00.001-06:00

I found an article online that Dan Stone wrote about the two aspects of salvation (or the Double Cross). You can read the full article here.

Here is the summary from the end of the article:

Let us make a quick summary. As far as God is concerned, one man represents the entire human race. He was us. We were with (in) Him so that whatever He did, we did! Again, how many died? ALL DIED. (2 Corinthians 5:14.) How many were buried? ALL. How many were raised? ALL. How many are seated with Him in the heavenlies? ALL. Does all include you? YES!

From that moment your false self was dealt with (if you will believe it). Whatever you think you were to God (the false self), you are no longer that. In Romans you are called the "old man." Sin was your nature; it is your nature no longer. Romans 6:6,7 put the cap on the sin problem. Read it carefully. Paul says, "The old man (you before you met Jesus) was crucified with Jesus that the body of sin might be done away with." Maybe not in your sight but in His, and He has the vote that counts. He is the judge. Can you imagine a criminal whose been excused by the judge who then stands up and recounts his crimes?

"Judge you can't excuse me from all I've done."

"But son, you are free, you are blameless."

'Not me. I'm a criminal."

That's what we do in the name of false piety. He died that we shouldn't be slaves of sin anymore. That sin slave master does not own us anymore. We have been purchased and freed.

There is a difference between committing a sin and being a sinner. A Christian may commit a sin, but he is not a sinner. Sin is a nature. A sinner is a lost being who occasionally does a righteous act. He can do a righteous looking act, but to God he isn't righteous. And a Christian can commit a sin, but he's not a sinner. "He who is dead has been freed from sin" (Romans 6:6-7, NKJ.) You've been freed from a nature of sin.

The main point is in verse 7. Now look at verses 6:10-11 and let's couple it with 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says something else incredible that gets chipped away by theologians. "Behold, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation."

A new creation is a new creature! A new creature is one who never existed before. It's not you made over. It's not your old motives amended, perfected. It's not a second chance. It's a new creature operating from a new disposition. It's reason-for-being is brand new. The new nature you possess is the nature of Christ. That's the new part; the spiritual nature. David Needham said something like this in Birthright, 'A brand new person came into being who never before existed." Paul says this in Galatians 2:20, 1 have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer 1 who live (as a person of sin), but Christ lives in me (as a person of righteousness)."

When you weren't a Christian you were an old creature, you had an old nature, a spirit of disobedience. (Eph. 2:2.) When you were born again you became a new creation in Christ Jesus. That's how God sees you. He sees you white as snow. He doesn't see your sin. He can't tolerate that. He can't put band-aids on your soul. You are not meant to remain a soul dominated person. He can't fix you. But here's what He can do. He can take you to the Cross, kill you, and raise you up again. It's the same vessel full of new life. He calls it a new creation. Praise the Lord!

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says another incredible statement. Let me quote it, 'We (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin (singular), Sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him Jesus).

Norman Grubb called this Paul's deepest statement on the Passion of Christ. "God made Jesus to be sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." This verse under-girds the reason 1 spoke so harshly about confessing that we (righteous ones of God) are still sinners. Do you think it humble to stand in Church and say, "I'm a sinner."? Oh the devil is so wily. Your spirit has been wed to His Spirit. You have a marriage. Get over the negative. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You are in union with the One who was never created.

This means we are righteous in God's sight. We lack nothing. Colossians 2:9,10, "For in Him (Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (and He lives in you) and you are complete in Him."

Look yourself in your mirror and say, I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!" That is the true confession. You are in union with the uncreated God of creation. He cannot die (as He is originating, creating Spirit); therefore you cannot die (for you are now possessed by the divine Spirit). We have already admitted that a Christian can commit a sin, but the Christian is not a sinner. A sinner can do a righteous act. It happens all the time. But is that person righteous because of the act? No. His righteousness or unrighteousness is based on his relationship with God through Christ. That is why a Christian's conscience is bothered when he acts out of accordance with his true spirit. The Spirit says, "You did wrong, that was not me." Your spirit agrees with His Spirit (1 John 1: 9.) and you get on with the business of living.

What stopped my Christian life of defeat was being told that I died in Him, that I was a brand new creation whose inner being had been invaded and replaced by the Godhead. Sin was out. Christ was in.

Just keep confessing it.

'I am righteous."

'I am peace."

'I am love."

"My whole life has been put together." But the Holy Spirit must show you that you died. If He doesn't show you, you will forever thrash around trying to perfect the false self, trying to be your own saviour. But if you see life from both sides of the Cross; He died for you and you died with Him, you are free indeed.

My final pleas are these. See yourself the way God sees you. Possess, by faith, this truth of God. It is yours. It is the free gift of grace if you will believe it. And if you will, you will see that what you take will take you. What you possess will possess you.

Story of Life Change

2009-01-07T00:34:00.003-06:00

My mentor, Bill Loveless, is the founder of Christ Is Life Ministries. On the CILM website, there is a section with "Stories of Life Change" and the current story is my story. You can read it here.

Oregon has been beautiful. It has snowed three times since we flew in on Christmas Eve. We will head back to Texas at the end of this week.

Grace & Peace.

Support Letter

2008-12-19T22:51:00.003-06:00

Dear friends and family,

As we near the end of the year, we wanted thank you for your support and share what God has done through Y•LIFe in 2008. It has been a great year of growth and transition. The most notable development this year was a new emphasis on one-on-one and small group discipleship. We are encouraged by the opportunities we have had to share the abundant life in Christ with many in our area as we pursued discipleship locally. Additionally, we continued speaking at churches, retreats, and conferences in Arkansas and throughout Texas.

Our goal for LIFe Ministries is to proclaim the beautiful news that true fullness in life is only found in Jesus, and that our relationship with Jesus brings freedom, peace, joy, and love.

It is thrilling to watch Him move in others and transform their lives. We received this message from a youth worker who attended the retreat in Arkansas:

"I just wanted to say thank you for the message you brought to our kids… I think it not only gave insight to our youth group, but your message had an impact on the leaders as well, definitely me . . . I was truly blessed. So I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I look forward to next fall!"

We also lead a small group of high school students through the book of Ephesians at our home on Thursday evenings. We have the privilege of watching God work in extraordinary ways in their lives. One student recently wrote this in an encouraging note to us:

“I seriously wish you could sit down with half the kids in my school and tell them that life doesn't depend on what they accomplish and that they just need to rest in Christ…Thanks soo much for everything you and Dani do for me. My life is soo much more restful and full. And happy :) You just don't even know.”

God has faithfully provided for our financial, physical, and spiritual needs as we follow Him moment-by-moment. At times relying on God for our daily needs has been difficult, but through the process of trusting Him, we have grown much in our faith. We have known of His care and faithfulness for many years, but now we are experiencing this reality as we rest in these truths and enjoy Him in both pleasant and difficult circumstances. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support in 2008. You are a crucial partner in this ministry.

As we begin our third year, God has led us to continue our ministry through the financial support of churches, organizations, and individual supporters. Our direction and vision of LIFe Ministries is similar to mission work. We serve, minister, and share the gospel of Life in Christ, while God uses those of you who share our heart for this ministry to provide the largest part of our financial provision.

Throughout 2008, we continued to receive financial contributions from supporters, like-minded organizations, and compensation from churches where Matt spoke. Financially, the ministry is surviving on a month-to-month basis. While we do not have enough supporters to cover the budget, God continues to faithfully provide for our family's needs. Each month, as we draw close to the end of our financial resources, God provides. Most of the time, this unpredicted provision of our needs comes from one of you. Thank you. We are grateful for His provision through your generosity.

Since LIFe Ministries was founded in 2006, we have not increased our budget. With additional support in 2009, we hope to update our computer programs, expand our church partnerships, encourage and assist youth pastors, increase our discipleship opportunities, and continue to develop material for various speaking events. We would also like to contribute to a retirement account and to a Health Savings Account, but will not be able to do this unless our support base increases.

We encourage you to pray about becoming a monthly, quarterly, or annual financial supporter of LIFe Ministries if you are not already. If you know of anyone who might be interested in hearing more about this ministry, please contact us. If you wish to give financially for 2008, you will need to postmark your check by December 31, 2008, for tax purposes.

Partnering with you on this mission from God is an honor for us. There is nothing more urgent for the church than for believers to know who they are in Christ and begin depending on Him in their daily lives. Your financial support as well as your prayers will enable us to continue proclaiming His truth and life to more churches. We long for transformation in individuals and churches around the world.

Grace & Peace,

Matt and Dani
LIFe Ministries
www.liveinfreedom.org

Living In Freedom Ministries is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible.

*In case you are interested in supporting this ministry, please click here to find out more information.

Living Out of Our Spiritual Reality in the Physical Realm

2008-11-21T11:51:00.002-06:00

Big God in Forest Glen

2008-11-14T09:52:00.010-06:00

A few weekends ago, I spoke at the Big God Fall Retreat for Heights Baptist Church of Temple. We traveled to Forest Glen Christian Camp in Rosebud, TX. It is a beautiful encampment and this group was a ton of fun. Jeff Burns, the YP, has been there somewhere around 15 years and continues to pour his life and love into the group. This was my second time to partner with him in ministry and it was, once again, a joy for me.

The material we went through during this weekend retreat was the "Signs" material I created a few months ago. It consists of several pictures I've taken from various church signs and we discuss what messages are being sent by churches via these signs.

The students were incredibly responsive and engaged in each session. One of my favorite sessions during the weekend took place on Saturday night, when a student had several questions about the topic (which led to questions that didn't necessarily directly connect to what we were talking about). I took some time to respond to his questions and felt that he wasn't the only one wondering about these things. After a while, the entire group was looking up different passages and reading them to each other looking for what the Bible said in regards to each question. It was pretty cool watching all of this happen.

Here's the group that went (these shirts are definitely the most unique shirts I've seen for a youth retreat!):

On Saturday night, we had a pretty rocking camp fire, of course with S'mores!

We also played a great game on Sunday afternoon that entailed grabbing socks from other players (tucked in like flags for flag football) without getting your sock pulled out first. This game got rather intense!

Incomparable

2008-11-12T10:25:00.001-06:00

Inner Peace over Inner Turmoil

2008-11-07T15:39:00.003-06:00

The past few weeks have been somewhat of a roller coaster for me. I had an amazing trip to Arkansas with my family, got to speak at a retreat and built some great friendships while we were there, spoke at a retreat in Texas the weekend after that for the youth group that I first spoke to after forming LIFe Ministries, almost completely depleted funds in the ministry account, and began working on our 2009 support letter as well as trying to line up future speaking engagements.

As I've gone through all of this, I've begun experiencing inner turmoil. Honestly, I haven't handled it very well. Yesterday was the culmination of this struggle in my soul as I spent most of the day with my family. Unfortunately, they received the brunt of my flesh.

Last night, during our High School Ephesians Bible Study, Dani asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks. We were talking about Ephesians 2:11-16 and, at this point in the evening, I was talking about verse 14, and the reality that Jesus Himself is our peace.

As I was explaining how Jesus has united Himself in our spirit, giving us life and inner peace, He also makes it so that we don't have to have inner turmoil. We don't have to pray that God will bring others peace in a situation, He IS our peace in every situation. We don't need Him to give us peace, it's WHO He is in us already.

This is where Dani stopped me. She asked, "Can you explain why it is that we still struggle and don't always feel this inner peace?"

It was as if God was using Dani's voice to speak directly into my soul. I could talk all day about these verses, but they were removed from my present context. It was just a bunch of information. Until she asked me this question, I hadn't really allowed these verses to resonate with my soul.

As I thought about how to answer her question, I couldn't help but face the reality that these past few weeks have been spent in much inner turmoil, and not so much inner peace.

So, what's my issue? Why am I not experiencing His peace, or better put, why am I not experiencing Him (since He is our peace) in my daily life?

I was "turning back to the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). The perceived uncertainty of the future, lack of contentment with the present, and my willingness to give in to my flesh all created an atmosphere of slavery in me. Slavery to what? Slavery to my flesh. Even as I was walking around sulking, anxious, angry, and selfish, I knew that I didn't have to live this way. However, I continued to allow my emotions and perception of my circumstances control me.

God in His grace and sovereignty allowed me to wallow in this for a while. Why, you might ask? Because I needed to go through this in order to be reminded, once again, that I cannot live this life apart from Him, in my own strength.

I recently begain reading a book by Brennan Manning called "Ruthless Trust." I think the Lord led me to this book at this time because I needed to hear what Brennan mentions in the first chapter and the theme which he continues throughout the book. At the very beginning, he writes:

This book started writing itself with a remark from my spiritual mentor "Brennan, you don't need any more insights into the faith" he observed. "You've got enough insights to last you three hundred years. The most urgent need in your life is to trust what you have received."

As I read those words, I was reminded of what my mentor, Bill Loveless always tells me each time I call him anxious over our financial situation or anything else going on in our lives.

Matt, you know the real question in this situation, don't you? The real question is not whether or not God is going to take care of you, but rather where is your breaking point? Where is the line you will draw from trusting God to doing it on your own?

As I've been contemplating these truths, I have come to realize that my turmoil isn't as much over my circumstances as it is with my lack of trust in Jesus. In Him, I have peace and can trust Him as my life. When I'm experiencing anything other than rest, peace, love, joy, patience, fulfillment, contentment, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and abundance, I can know that those are the times I have stopped trusting Him and have started relying on myself.

Where are you on this spectrum? Are you experiencing His peace or are you wrestling in your soul?

My prayer for today is that I will come to Him and find rest for my soul (Matthew 11:27-30) because He really is so much better than anything else I could ever desire (Philippians 3:7-12), and as I rest in Him, I will learn the reality and secret of contentment (Philippians 4:11-13); which is living dependently on Him in each moment, fully trusting Him to be all I need.

What To Do With Fear?

2008-11-04T23:27:00.003-06:00

Evangelism - Part 2

2008-10-28T02:13:00.002-05:00

Arkansas Retreat

2008-10-27T15:57:00.005-05:00

Well, we made it back to Texas early this morning...arriving at home around 3:00 am. The trip was a blast! I can't even begin to describe how beautiful Arkansas is and how much fun we had exploring the state. Here are a few picks from the retreat site, Shepherd of the Ozarks (SOTO).
This bear was in the entry way of the cafeteria area. Go Bears!!!

Here is the view from the balcony just outside of the cafeteria/meeting place:

This creek ran around the base of the retreat center:

I'll update later this week with more details from the retreat. It was a blast for us, but it's nice to be home again!

Evangelism

2008-10-20T23:34:00.003-05:00

Oswald Chambers

2008-10-16T15:07:00.006-05:00

Ever since high school, I've picked up "My Utmost For His Highest" and read a few days here and there but nothing consistently. This week, however, the Spirit led a dear friend to e-mail Dani about the entry for October 13 entitled, "Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth." The devotional uses the life of Moses to reveal something profound. Our friend e-mailed Dani to say that this devotional was along the same thought as the sermon I preached on the 12th. However, as I read through what Chambers wrote, it seemed it was exactly what God wanted to share with me this week.

Here are a few passages of note that impacted my life and my mind:

In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.

For the past several months, discouragement and despair have been the prevailing emotions for me. When we started Y-LIFe, I had a ton of dreams and a huge vision that I felt was from God. Now that we're two years into it, I've often thought I was crazy for thinking such things in the first place. Isn't it always so easy to look at the physical circumstances and base our quality of life off of them!

As I read through this devotional, the Spirit began changing my thoughts. He began to show me how much like Moses I've been. Once He began revealing Himself to me a few years ago as my Source of life and what it means to live from my union with Him, I've longed to share this as much as possible. Once I was experiencing His freedom, I couldn't wait for others to taste its sweetness as well.

However, for many months, I've thought I was going to do all of this. The main problem, as Christ has revealed to me this week, is that my belief system continues to carry lies within it. My life was proof of this. When discouragement and despair are consistent emotions experienced in my life, it's a great clue into the reality that I'm living in my flesh.

Chambers also writes, "We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes something equivalent to Moses' forty years in the wilderness. It's as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say--"Oh, who am I that I should go...?" We must learn that God's great stride is summed up in these words--"I AM THAT I AM... has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14) We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him--our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God..."

This has encouraged me so much. I know that God never leaves nor does He withhold Himself from me, but I've lived as if He had. All the while, He was with me, encouraging me through difficult circumstances to turn to Him in dependence and allow Him to be my only Source for life, allowing Him to live through me in each moment.

Today, I choose truth. Today, I choose to depend on Him. The last sentence of Chambers' devotional was this:

If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.

Romans 8:28

2008-10-16T10:30:00.002-05:00

Wisdom Part 2

2008-10-09T09:41:00.004-05:00

Technical Difficulties

2008-10-09T00:02:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I shouldn't be surprised that I'm already experiencing technical difficulties with this vlog. I recorded the video this afternoon and as I've tried to upload it, I ran into some problems. Now, the problem appears to be that the video is missing.

I will try again on Thursday. I'm sorry for the delay...

The Indwelling Life of Christ

2008-10-06T15:57:00.008-05:00

I'm reading this book by Major W. Ian Thomas and each chapter is packed with incredible truths about Christians and the Christian life. I'm absolutely LOVING this book! Anyway, I thought I'd share a little from chapter 7, entitled "What Kind of a Christian?", that really impacted me today.

God is the absolute source of righteousness, but there is also an absolute source of unrighteousness--the devil. All human activity derives from one or the other of these two origins.

That is why the Bible says, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23 KJV). Whatever does not derive from your attitude of total dependence on God, whatever does not release God's activity through your life, is sin...Every step you take, every attitude you adopt, every decision you make, everything you do and all you hope to be, is either in dependence upon the God who created you as His own dwelling place, or else the byproduct of the demon spirit of this world...who perpetuates his lies through a mind-set of self-reliance in fallen humanity.

He goes on to write about what Romans 8:& calls the "carnal mind." He defines it as "exercising the faculties of your personality in ways that are not dependent on the God whose presence imparts to you the quality of true humanity that He always intended for you."

He continues:

It means thinking godlessly...You take a step, you make a decision, you conceive your plans, you assume a responsibility, all without relating the situation to God and to His light and to all that He is within you...Carnal or fleshly Christians have been regenerated by the restoration of the Holy Spirit to their human spirit, but in certain ways they still repudiate the Spirit's legitimate right to reestablish the rule of Christ in their minds, in their emotions, and in their wills...their actions and decisions typically are taken for the sake of their own interests and for who they are in themselves, rather than for God's interests and for who He is...the devil is smart enough and cunning enough that he can always persuade countless numbers of professing Christians to try and be Christians without Christ.

This next part was really powerful to me as I began to think of all the things I am willing to do for Jesus:

They are willing to do anything for Jesus' sake, but they fail to understand that His presenceis absolutely imperative to do it, that without Him we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing.

The chapter ends with this prayer:

I want nothing less than to be all that for which the blood of God's dear Son was shed.

Hinds' Feet On High Places

2008-10-04T10:26:00.007-05:00

Dani has been reading this book for some time and sharing some quotes with me along the way. I finally decided, after hearing a bunch of great sections from the book, that I needed to read it as well. So, I started today. This is a small portion of the introduction:

"The Song of Songs expresses the desire implanted in every human heart, to be reunited with God himself, and to know perfect and unbroken union with him. He has made us for himself, and our hearts can never know rest and perfect satisfaction until they find it in him.

It is God's will that some of his children should learn this deep union with himself through the perfect flowering of natural human love in marriage. For others it is equally his will that the same perfect union should be learned through the experience of learning to lay down completely this natural and instinctive desire for marriage and parenthood, and accept the circumstances of life which deny them this experience. This instinct for love, so firmly implanted in the human heat, is the supreme way by which we learn to desire and love God himself above all else.

But the High Places of victory and union with Christ cannot be reached by any mental reckoning of self to be dead to sin, or by seeking to devise some way or discipline by which the will can be crucified. The only way is by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by God, by a continually repeated laying down of our own will and acceptance of his as it is presented to us in the form of the people with whom we have to live and work, and in the things which happen to us. Every acceptance of his will becomes an altar of sacrifice, and every such surrender and abandonment of ourselves to his will is a means of furthering us on the way to the High Places to which he desires to bring every child of his while they are still living on earth."

Great stuff! I'm excited to see what the story brings...

Great Resource from CPYU

2008-10-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

The Center For Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU) publishes a magazine called "Engage." Their most recent publication is available online for free! You can check it out here or by visiting the CPYU website.

Get your own - Open publication

Wisdom

2008-10-01T15:55:00.003-05:00

Vlog

2008-09-25T11:07:00.002-05:00

Completing the Work

2008-09-15T14:10:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking over the past few days what exactly is Paul praying in Philippians 1:6 as he writes, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ."

As I think about this, there is a thought running around my mind questioning this prayer.

Here's the thought:

"Didn't Christ already make believers complete? On the cross, He said, 'It is finished' and then there is all this stuff written about how we are righteous, perfect, and complete in Christ. So, why would Paul pray for these Philippians that God would complete this work among them?"

The more I've thought about this the more I think, one of the things Paul is praying has to with the way our lives are played out. I think Paul is praying that our physical lives will begin to match the reality of our spiritual life. In our spirit, we are united with Christ, made blameless and righteous in Him. No longer are dead, separated from God...but we are now alive, forever united with Him in our spirit. However, we aren't physically dead yet and we all continue to choose things that aren't in accordance with the life, desires, and character of God. We all still choose our flesh from time to time.

To me, Paul is praying something similar to Romans 12:2. This work that God is continuing to do that He will complete among us is the renewing of our minds, which directly results in the transformation of our lives. He is actively replacing the lies we have believed about ourselves, about God, and about others with the truth of who He is, who we are in Him, and who He is in us. This work that He's doing, He is faithful to complete. We are partakers of this work, but not as the worker, rather as the receiver. He works, we receive the fruit of His work in us.

It may look a bit like this: We struggle, in our flesh, to find our identity in Christ, instead we look for it in the things we do. As we try harder and harder to prove our worth and value, connecting ourselves so intimately with the activities we are involved in, God continues to remind us that we weren't created to find identity, worth, and value in the things we do.

Through His working, we come to the end of ourselves; realizing that we can not manufacture, produce, or even imitate a satisfied life in a way that truly satisfies. God begins removing the lies we've believed about where our identity and worth and value lie, replacing it with the truth that our identity is in our spirit alone, united with Christ, forever in Christ and Christ in us, and we are valuable/worthy because He has determined that about His creation, not because of anything we have ever done or ever could do.

This work that He is faithful to complete isn't something that He's having to fix in our spirit, but rather in our souls. He actively renewing our minds and, therefore, transforming our lives.

How good and kind God is to actively move in our world today, living in those who believe in Him, never ceasing to work in us to bring us to complete dependence on Him, living from Him as our Source for life.

So may you, today, find comfort and rest in Him, knowing that He is faithful to complete the work of renewing your mind to believe the truth of who He is, who you are in Him, and who He is in you.

Grace and Peace.

Fatherhood - Poem Sent from ChristAsUs.com

2008-09-03T17:02:00.001-05:00

Fatherhood
John Collings

Now I see what it means to be a father.
No longer looking about, seeking acceptance.
Feigning righteousness, needing approval.
All I am is of God.
The spiritual is reality.
Mystical supercedes logic.
God is tangible.
Only when I forget does the world blind me.

But fatherhood is more.
It is seeing the futile struggles of the children,
Struggling against their nature,
Not trusting because they cannot see or hear.
It is loving them through their trials.
And sharing with them His burdens for others.

All is Good.
Each crisis potentially brings on understanding.

The children need a father, or they begin to make their own rules.
And to misunderstand the purpose behind their growing.
Without a father they think themselves mature.
And their growing stagnates.

A father sees the vast limitless power
And resources of God as accessible.
He sees with God's eyes into the needs of his children.
And as they know him, they grow.

God gave us church that His children might have fathers,
and that fathers might know the joy
of loving children to maturity.

It's Always Been There

2008-08-27T01:19:00.005-05:00

This past Sunday, my family and I joined some friends for a short hike through some woods that ended at a little creek. While I was the only one who had been raised in this area, I was completely unaware of this beautiful spot we were exploring. In fact, our friends who took us out there aren't even from Texas, yet they had already made the trek to the creek and enjoyed it's beauty and fun.

I've been thinking about that adventure ever since we left to head home. That spot has always been there, even though I never knew it and hadn't visited it before. This is how I've felt the past few years in my Christian life, and therefore life in general. For so long I've lived as a "Christian." I've faithfully done all the things I thought I was supposed to do (i.e. read my Bible daily, prayed several times a day, always attended church regularly, talked to others about my faith, etc.) but it wasn't until a few years ago that I started to experience the beauty and fullness of life in Christ.

It's not that Jesus hadn't already given me His life and the fulfilled the promise of abundant life, it's just that I hadn't ever visited it before. I grew up in the general area, just never realized the life I was missing out on, but I knew I was missing out on something.

I had "lived" under the guise of law, instead of liberty. I thought God wanted so much from me, expected me to always do the right thing and if I ever gave in to sin (which was more often than I ever wanted to admit), I would have to work hard at repented and proving how sorry I was. Other times, I thought I was doing so well at doing the right things that God just had to be proud of such a special part of His creation. At those times, I thought that He just had to use me, after all it'd be a shame to waste such talent.

I've realized how messed up those views were and come face to face with the incredible and satisfying grace of God. Jesus has done all work through His Spirit whom He poured into my spirit at salvation, making me a new creation. I can now abide in this beautiful land of freedom, grace, peace, life, love, joy, wholeness, and perfection...even when the things I choose aren't perfect.

I now see how wonderful it is to be alive in Christ, that it's not just a catchy phrase, but it is crucial in really living. He is life and He's made me alive in Him. For that, the adventure is always worth it. I get to abide in Him by depending on Him in each moment.

This life has always been there in me ever since salvation, I just never realized it until recently. How thankful I am for that realization, it's made all the difference in my life.

Peas and Carrots

2008-08-05T19:25:00.020-05:00

Today was a beautiful day in Oregon. Sitting outside on my parent’s patio is peaceful and comfortable. We took baby L out there to eat her dinner tonight and were having a nice time. She was watching their waterfall and looking around at the trees. She seemed to be really enjoying her peas and carrots also! Then she decided that she was capable of feeding herself! I gave her two spoons to work with and I still had one to help her out a little since she was pretty hungry. Baby L got the bowl of peas and I kept the bowl of carrots. As she started playing in the peas with her fingers, she was absolutely thrilled! She dipped her fingers in and then put them in her mouth. I cheered, “Great job L! You did it!” Then she wanted to spoon the food into her mouth. She put the spoon into the peas several times and one time actually got the spoon from the bowl to her mouth. “Alright L! Wow!”

She was very happy with herself…until she realized that she was still hungry.

She was doing a great job, but it was not satisfying her hunger. She started to get angry and was rubbing the food all over herself making a HUGE mess!

I managed to get a quick bite of carrots in her mouth and she calmed down realizing that she was still getting food in her tummy. After a few minutes of this game, she had had enough. Our normally very happy baby was fit to be tied in that seat and wanting out fast.

She was completely covered from head to toe in peas and carrots. Matt and I took her straight into the sink to get cleaned up before we fed her a bottle. At last she was calm and peaceful again in her daddy’s arms being taken care of…what a picture.

As we went through this interaction it amazed me how well it illustrated many of our relationships with God. We are happy and peaceful in His creation. We are able to enjoy Him and the life He gave us. Then we start to think we can live this life on our own. It seems like a great idea and very exciting. We take over and drive ourselves to perform and achieve goals, status, praise and/or riches. We think we can handle this life on our own and love how if feels. Then we begin to experience little failures and we start to get frustrated. Our dreams are not as easily attainable as we thought and even if we reach them, we develop new and bigger ones.

When we continue to fail and fail, we begin to get angry, depressed, or resentful. Why won’t God help me do this? Why is this happening to me? God must not be trustworthy…I’m going to have to figure this one out on my own. Then we fail more. Some of us react to this failure with feelings of inadequacy and depression. We want to escape and get relief from all of our negative beliefs and feelings. Some of us believe that we can continue to press on and succeed, so we work and work and work and nearly kill ourselves to accomplish.

Then we fail more and by the grace of God, realize that WE CAN’T! We lift our hands to God as baby L lifted her hands to me to get out of the seat. Then as L had to get cleaned up in the sink, He has to clean up the mess that we have made by trying and trying to make our life work in our own strength.

The cleaning up of the mess usually isn’t a lot of fun, but in the end we are able to rest in our Father’s arms. He has cleaned up our mess and taken our heavy yoke. We are able to rest in Him and trust Him with our dreams, goals, desires, and our lives. We can surrender all of it and trust that He will and already has made something beautiful of our lives. It will be infinitely better than we have ever dreamed.

At some point every illustration breaks down. Baby L will someday learn to eat well on her own and will not have to depend on us to feed her and clean her up. It will be very healthy for her to learn independence from us in that way.

However, we are not intended to learn indepence from our Heavenly Father. As we attempt independence He draws us back to Him as He teaches us to trust Him in everything. Every area of our life He desires to live through us and give us a full and satisfying life that is not dependent on our circumstances, but His life in us and through us.

Thanks Baby L for such a beautiful picture of our Father…and some great entertainment!

Continued Provision

2008-08-04T13:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, my family and I flew from Texas to Oregon. It was a long day as we drove 2 1/2 hours to get to the airport and then had a 4 hour flight. By the time we landed, we were exhausted.

It was tough leaving home not really knowing where the funds would come from for us to get paid. The ministry is pretty much out of money and the things I have lined up while I'm in Oregon aren't things I get "paid" for. This whole experience has proven to be very taxing on us. I realized yesterday how much I've spiraled into my flesh. I had pretty much disengaged emotionally from Dani and struggled with what to do for our family.

At some point on the plane, I looked over at Dani and was overwhelmed with the reality of my current state. I had turned back to the yoke of slavery instead of resting in His life and freedom. As each moment passed without seeing His provision for my family, I turned more and more to my flesh. I'm so thankful that God revealed all of this to me. I hate how quickly I turn back to the flesh. I also HATE how I treat my family, especially Dani, when I'm not depending on Christ.

As we headed home, with a little time to talk, we mostly just had questions of what we were going to do. I honestly don't know what we'll do next month, or even the rest of this month. All I know is that, regardless of any situation, we're invited to depend on Jesus, who is completely trustworthy and good.

We were surprised to recieve a check, along with a few other checks we received right before we left Texas! It is enough to cover our paychecks for August 1st, and mostly for the 15th as well.

Through this situation, I've seen once again how circumstantial I can be. I am comforted by Christ and His provision, as well as the reality that He is doing exactly what we need at this moment. I also see that it took me getting to the absolute end of myself to see that He's really all I have. I hit bottom yesterday, and He revealed Himself through provision again. I tried coping with the situation, just hoping He would come through quickly. When that didn't happen, I didn't know what to do because coping wasn't a real option, that always leads to misery for me.

Christ always leads to fullness, peace, rest, joy, love, and life. My prayer is that I don't keep turning back to my flesh nor do I focus on my circumstances, instead always fixing my eyes on Jesus and depending fully on Him in each moment.

Sleeping In

2008-08-01T21:24:00.003-05:00

This past Wednesday, I had plans to meet with a friend, Matei, at 6:30 am for breakfast. We have been meeting together all summer, mostly on Tuesdays, but rescheduled this week for Wednesday. Late Tuesday night I realized that my cell phone was pretty much out of battery and wouldn't make it till the morning, so I connected it to my laptop and went to bed.

The problem is that my cell phone is my alarm clock also. I decided to set my watch alarm and prayed this prayer:

"Father, please wake me up so I can make it to my meeting at 6:30. I am trusting you to get me up on time. I pray that I won't be late."

As I my head hit the pillow, I was pretty much already asleep. I woke up to my girls getting breakfast and Dani asking me if I meant to sleep in. It was 7:25! I frantically jumped up, ran upstairs to get my phone, and saw that Matei sent me a text around 6:45 asking if I had slept in.

I sent him a text back to see if he was still there, found out he was, and headed up to meet him. I couldn't believe I had slept in. I was very disappointed in myself and my mind began to have these thoughts:

"God, it's not like I was asking for a big thing. I know you can wake me up, what's the deal? Why would you let this happen? These breakfasts with Matei are important to me, I can't believe you didn't wake me up!"

When I got to breakfast, Matei told me it was no big deal and that he used the hour to read more of Grace Walk by Steve McVey and finished up Romans. He began to tell me some of the things he felt God showing him through his reading, which he blogged about here. I was encouraged by my friend. However, I spent the rest of the day wrestling with how to handle the let down of God not waking me up by 6:30.

I write of this event because it has turned out to be a critical moment for me as God has revealed something transforming for my life. Even though He didn't "show up" when I asked Him to, Wednesday morning turned out EXACTLY how it needed to. Matei and I aren't just getting together for breakfast every week, we're getting together and praying that God reveals more of Himself to us as we do. This past week, God just wanted to do that during the time we weren't together.

I was so focused on my schedule, I didn't even realize that God was doing something much cooler on His schedule and allowing me to see it. Being on time wasn't the issue, the issue continues to be me trusting God to do what's best.

This theme continues to be central in my thoughts as we still haven't received enough support to get paid this month. I was trusting, but trusting with the expectation that He would provide by the first what we needed to get through August.

As August 1st came and went, my soul is actually at peace knowing that He is all we need and He will ONLY do what is best for us. During this time, I'm experiencing His life, joy, peace, and rest as only His life can be, even though our circumstances haven't changed any. The money isn't the issue any more, the issue for me is whether or not I'm going to trust Him in each moment. As I've chosen Him, I've experienced the abundant life and I wouldn't trade that for more financial gain as His life is so sweet.

I know He will provide, as He's done so faithfully for so long. This time, He has something more for me to see than receiving that financial provision by the 1st. I'll keep you posted as I continue to learn. I'm so thankful for my sweet wifey who is a true partner on this journey.

Grace and Peace.

Trust

2008-07-31T23:11:00.005-05:00

Over the past year and a half, trust has been the biggest recurring theme in my life. Once I left my position as youth pastor at the church where I worked, my family has lived under what God has provided through LIFe Ministries. It's been an incredible ride and we've experientially learned how trustworthy Jesus is.

Through our first support letter, God brought in enough to get us through the first half of year 1. God continued to bring in money and we made it without much difficulty until August of that first year (2007). Ever since then, we've watched God bring in just enough each month to cover the expenses for the ministry and for us to receive our paychecks from the ministry.

I don't like to write about all of this because money is one of those subjects that can easily make people feel uncomfortable. However, I share this now because I want to share honestly the reality of the struggle in the moment of faith, as we trust God to provide once again in a way only He can.

After almost 2 years, one might think that it's gotten easy and it shouldn't be that big of a deal any more when our bank account reaches nearly the bottom. It is a bit easier, but it's far from easy. The struggle is real, and we're finding joy in the midst of it. Jesus' peace prevails over the seemingly uncertainty of tomorrow. However, we fully trust His certainty for each moment, and are able to rest in Him for that.

Right now, we are at that point again, where He will have to do something big (in our eyes) in order for us to financially make it through August. This journey is incredible. It's been and still is a great ride for us as we have learned (and are still learning) what it means to trust God in all things. He's so tender and strong, faithful and good, gracious and giving, present and unceasing. Without the struggles, not just the financial ones, I'm sure my view of God would have continued to be more theoretical than practical.

Even for a theoretical thinker, I'm so glad He's in the details and His grace is in each moment. I'll update here as we continue on this journey of trusting and learning to depend completely on Him.

Not Bold, Just Life

2008-07-30T15:42:00.003-05:00

I've always thought of sharing my faith as being something that is combined with boldness. Whenever I would get to a time where I think I need to share my faith, I would pray for boldness. Recently, instead of praying for boldness, I would just think I could be nice and share Christ's love in a less in-your-face way. Honestly, I've never been smooth in sharing my faith and it's always been an area of struggle for me. To say the least, it's never comfortable for me.

The other day, I took my oldest two daughters to our neighborhood pool for an afternoon swim. They love swimming and we were already having a fun morning so I was really excited to play at the pool with them. When we got there, the pool was relatively empty, only a few other people were there.

There was a couple there, the woman on a float being pushed around by her husband. As we got closer to the pool, I realized they were drinking alcoholic beverages...he had a few beers and she had a big glass of something light red, but definitely an adult drink.

As we got in the pool, they noticed me and my girls and we noticed them. I didn't give much thought to them as they weren't obnoxious or anything like that, they were just relaxing at the pool. Every now and then, they would float by where we were and say something sweet to my girls about their sunglasses or their hats.

After a few times (and a few more drinks), they floated over and stayed for a bit. I was playing with my middle girl while my 5 year old struck up a conversation with the lady. I stayed close, but far enough away for my daughter to think I wasn't listening.

She started out telling this couple about the time I put her on my shoulders while I was standing under a fan that was on (which was about 3 years ago)! After much laughter, they continued on the conversation. My daughter started telling this couple about her sisters and how she's the oldest, which led them to ask about birthdays.

My daughter (whose actually 4 but will be 5 in less than a month) started to tell them about her birthday coming up, but quickly shared the birthday we had just celebrated. She said, "I just had by birthday for when Jesus made me new on the inside." This lady, who had to be at least a little inebriated by this point, responded with, "Really! That's the best thing you could ever do."

she asked my daughter if she knew the story behind rainbows, to which my daughter responded with a yes, followed by her singing "Who built the ark, Noah, Noah. Who built the ark, Noah built the ark." After that, the conversation turned to the ladies float.

As I sat in the pool listening to this conversation, I was amazed. God was using my daughter to show me something profound: boldness isn't what brought this conversation about, it was just life. My daughter was not trying to be bold. I've never told her that she needs to tell others about her faith or about Jesus.

However, if you ever sit and talk with her for any length of time, the conversation will almost always include Jesus. For her, it's natural because that's her life.

For so long, I had thought I needed more boldness. The reality is that Christ is life, and when He's my life, He will share His life with others. His life becomes my life (experientially) when I stop trying so hard to live for Him or to make this life work, and instead turn in complete dependence to Him.

My daughter wasn't trying to force anything, she was merely sharing about herself and her own life. There wasn't an agenda or anything contrived. She hasn't gone through a tract and doesn't know any formula for sharing Jesus. She just lives, and He is her life.

I'm so thankful for this experience. As we walked home, the thoughts of all that I had just witnessed continued to roll around my mind, and they continue to do so even now. As I continue on this faith-journey, I'm learning more and more of living dependent on Christ in every moment, and have had glimpses of this from time to time but nothing consistently. However, I'm encouraged from what God is teaching me through my oldest, who has faith as a child.

My prayer isn't for boldness but rather that He, who is Life, will be my focus, and as I fix my eyes on Jesus, He lives and moves and speaks and loves through me.

More on the "Funk"

2008-07-29T16:12:00.005-05:00

My mentor and close friend, Bill Loveless, recently sent out an update of his ministry, Christ Is Life Ministries. In it, he included a short devotional dealing with "funks."

After reading it, I thought I would share it here as another voice to the previous posts I wrote here and here.

May you be encouraged and challenged.

Will You? - by Bill Loveless

I struggle with what I call “funks.” These funks can be brought on by depression that is part of the chronic fatigue, the enemy, who seems to want to constantly needle me or just that inner battle that sometimes leaves me feeling on some level that this life in Christ is not working. In fact, I have talked to some of you recently who experience these funks as well.

The problem for me is that these “funks” tend to move me to focus on self. Sometimes when I am in them, I can’t see God as my need-meeter. I can get so focused on self that I am blind to the most important need and that is fixing my eyes on Jesus. So I wallow for awhile until the “misery index” gets to about a 10.

At those moments, a thought comes to mind that says: “Come to Me. You look weary and heavy-laden.” As I ponder this thought another thought comes to mind. “All you have to do is take one step of faith and I will do the rest.”

My friends, I continue to ask the Lord to give me simple and clear ways to share how to live the Christ-life. The simplest way to live is summed up in this one question: “Will you take the next step of faith?”

Regardless of what we believe or feel about God, ourselves, or living the Christian life, will we take the next step? In the midst of adversity, unbelief, frustration with God, ourselves or others, will we take the next step? We know the truth that the next faith step is our only option.

A Story of Freedom

2008-07-25T13:55:00.002-05:00

This video is really entertaining and impressive. Let me know what you think...

I Am A New Creation

2008-07-25T11:13:00.001-05:00

Here is a great song! I hope you enjoy it and are encouraged by the lyrics.

Identity, Continued...

2008-07-17T10:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I posted about a prayer I wrote down in my journal and the things God has been teaching me about where I find my identity and about trust in Him. I wanted to share with you how the prayer ended, after much griping and wallowing in my circumstances.

"I would think this is showing me that I'm not really depending on You in each moment if I'm in a funk each time I'm financially spent. I'm sorry. I'm so thankful for Your love, life, and grace. May I live in Your peace and rest today, fully trusting You to live fully through me. I love You. I am only Yours and only alive in You. Thank You for living in me."

I love how He always reminds me of the truth of my union with Him and the real reality of life. Thursday morning, I received a devotional taken out of The Rest of The Gospel by Dan Stone. It's a great reminder to me about who we are in Christ and how He changes everything, including reality.

"The realm of the spirit, the singular realm, is eternal reality. That is where our spirit being lives, and where our true identity is settled forever. The realm of appearance, although we must live in it in the here and now, is false as far as our identity goes. All of life depends on which realm is ultimate reality to you: the realm of spirit or the realm of appearances. That's going to determine what you believe and how you live.

Choosing to believe that you are not both good and evil can be difficult. All of the external proof, all of the apparent evidence, all of the sight, supports the opposite: that you have two natures. ''You are good, yes, a little good, but boy, you are still wicked; you are still evil.'' Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to you that you only have one nature, not two. In the core of your being you are not both righteous and sinful; you are only righteous."

Identity

2008-07-17T10:33:00.003-05:00

The past few days has been a bit of a struggle for me. There hasn't been something I could point to as the direct source of the funk but I knew, in my soul, something wasn't right. Finally, I stopped procrastinating and making excuses for how I was acting and treating my family, so I got away alone.

As I laid in my office, I had a pen, my journal, and a Bible I began to pray and write. My prayers when I'm in funk are very raw and honest. I am pretty sure God can handle authenticity. :)

Here's how I started:

"Father, I'm exhausted. I feel completely drained and would honestly like to escape. I'm short with the girls, don't really want to be around anyone, unmotivated, overwhelmed by finances (personally and ministerially), and a ball of stress...My physical circumstances are dictating my life right now. I really think that sucks...I am not at rest."

There's a bit more moaning but I'll spare you of it here. As I was writing and praying, I felt God speaking to me in my thoughts. Here are a few things that He revealed to me:

1) A recurring truth that I'm learning this year is that I have easily found my identity through LIFe Ministries. As the ministry struggles or shifts in function, I shift in how I feel about myself, concerned of what others may think about what I'm doing. I have realized that I have spent my energy trying to convince people that what I'm doing really is successful. So, when I don't have as many speaking events planned, I must redefine what success is in order to remain valid.

I find it somewhat humorous that this ministry started as a way to proclaim to any who would want to hear that our identity is in Christ as He is in us. That this life isn't about what we can do, but rather about Christ living His life through us...Him doing what He wants to do through us in this world. Yet, I find myself in the middle of the struggle of defining myself according to what I do, not who I am in Christ and who Christ is in me. In these moments, my soul is not at peace and rest and I'm not experiencing His abundant life...but I am learning...and that always brings hope.

2) I was nudged to look back over some previous journal entries and found that this funk has taken place about once every three months. It just happens to coincide with quarterly payroll taxes. I really think that I'm trusting in God to provide and resting in His provision, until the needs change. Of course, these needs are only changing in my eyes, for God, there is no change. He is my Provider and is completely trustworthy. Whenever I have big checks to write, I get all stressed up and wonder how everything is going to turn out.

You might think (as I do) that I should already fully trust by now, after all, it's been almost two years now and God has never let us down, in any way.

However, through this whole process, I'm learning a ton and realizing so much about my flesh. I'm also experiencing so much of the trustworthiness, sufficiency, and reality of Christ in my life. I wouldn't trade this ride with Christ for anything. It's really good, even when it's hard.

This is already too long so I'll write some more tomorrow.

Grace & Peace.

Great Quote

2008-07-14T11:03:00.004-05:00

I have subscribed to a great daily devotional e-mail from www.ChristAsUs.com. Each day they send out a quote, thought, or passage from a book that leads to the reader thinking on what it means to be in union with Christ. Yesterday, this was what I received:

"Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes."

This is a quote from C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity.

Just thought I'd share it with you. I've loved the community of believers that God has placed in my life, many of whom live in different towns, who live out this thought daily.

May we spend today, not worried so much about what we're doing, whether it's good or bad, but rather gazing on the Source!