The Way Matt Sees It

DEFENDING A LION In the past, I think I’ve tried harder at defending God.   I’ve heard it said that God doesn’t need us to defend Him, and I’ve always thought, “Well, it’s not like He’s speaking up; some one needs to say some thing!   But I’ve come to realize more and more that I can just lean on Jesus.   Just recently someone in our youth group asked my why she should believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead.   Isn’t it ridiculous to believe that our bodies do anything besides rot in the ground after we die?   Is that just something we’ve made up to make ourselves feel better? TAKE IT TO JESUS We always take it back to Jesus.   Why should we believe any of the claims Christianity makes?   Why should we commit ourselves to the God of the Bible?   Instead of engaging in some theoretical discussion that doesn’t really answer any questions or engage our hearts, we take it right back to Jesus. Jesus was the one who claimed th...

The Gospel literally means, “The Good News.”   So often The Gospel is reduced to a simple, overused and phrase: “Jesus loves you.”   Although this is wholly and completely true, it utterly falls short of all that The Gospel entails.   The Gospel is the story of how The Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the Universe not only loves us, but paints this incredible picture: The PENALTY The PROBLEM The INVITATION The ADOPTION The COMMISSION The INDWELLING THE PENALTY OF SIN Whether we choose to admit or acknowledge it, we are all rebels to God because we were born in sin (Romans 3:10-12, 23).   We are locked away in a prison cell with no way to escape.   Eventually the Enemy will come and destroy us – but Jesus stands in our place and takes the penalty for our sin and rebellion (Romans 5:8). THE PROBLEM OF SIN Not only does God save us from the PENALTY, but He saves us from the PROBLEM.   He didn’t save us so we can stay in the priso...

It’s easy for me to love God with my mind and with my deeds, but sometimes I forget to love God with all of my heart.  I can be so overly focused on doing things for God and reading about God, but not engaging with Him.  The REMIX Retreat helped renew that in my life this weekend.  The theme was “Climate Change,” and how we don’t have to be shaped by other people’s climates, but we can change the environment around us with “The Christ Climate.”  GET SOME GOD-TIME Whether or not you’re a nature person, there’s something majestic about being outside and taking in God’s creation.   This weekend at the REMIX Retreat at Tuscarora, I spent some quality time on the Delaware River, communing with God and being reminded of who I am in Him. The very first thing we did was watch this video on the Gospel that really set the tone for the whole event.   The Gospel includes:             The PENALTY ...