The Way Matt Sees It

For a good while I was fighting thoughts of inadequacy.  I began working at Searchlight Church as youth pastor during my sophomore year of college.  I drove two hours every single Sunday morning from Pennsylvania to the Jersey Shore.  During that commute, I was bombarded by thoughts of inadequacy. You have to understand, I was driving from Valley Forge Christian College .   VFCC is the hub of ministry-hungry students ready to serve their guts out for God.   So how the heck did I become the youth pastor at Searchlight?   I had no idea what I was doing.   I wasn’t the right major.   I wasn’t ready.   I didn’t have enough experience.   All four pastors who worked at the church had years of previous youth ministry experience.   They could have chosen anyone ; how did it end up being me? A QUICK DETOUR TO ONE HOBBIT’S ADVENTURE "I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure." -Gandalf, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) Bilbo Baggins is the main ch

KNOWING VS. SHOWING There is a large difference between these two words.   Showing God’s existence is incredibly important, and something that I firmly believe is missing in American Evangelical Christianity.   Showing God’s existence can be done through arguments and evidence.   Discussing archeological finds that support Bible history and using philosophical arguments supporting God’s existence are very important when it comes to loving God with our mind (Mark 12:29-31) and making a defense for what we believe (1 Peter 3:15).   However, it shouldn’t end there. Simply showing that God exists, yet never truly knowing , is ultimately pointless.   Someone could intellectually understand that Jesus is God, died for the sin of humanity, and convert to Christianity.   But simply saying, “Jesus took away my sins,” is much different than, “I’ve been forgiven.” HOW DO YOU KNOW GOD IS REAL? Dr. William Lane Craig asserts that we can know God’s existence apart from arguments and