The Way Matt Sees It

J esus replied, “ The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The  Lord  our God is the one and only  Lord .   And you must love the  Lord  your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’   The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’   No other commandment is greater than these .” –Jesus (Mark 12:29-31, NLT) Jesus says the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:29-30).  This is the core of Christianity.  This is what defines us.  If we were to strip everything away, all the traditions, all the denominations, all the dissensions…this is what we would have.  So how do we do it? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HEART | Compassion Loving God with our heart means loving Him with all of who we are.   It means asking...

Lately, God has been growing me in my calling.  The past few weeks have been events, prayer times, class sessions, discussions, etc. that have all served as confirmations on the calling God has on my life.  It’s pretty cool how it’s been happening. This also comes with certain convictions as well.   I’ve been realizing just how incredibly selfish I am, in my relationships with people, the opportunities I have, the way I spend my money, and the list goes on.   While I feel like God has been confirming to me more and more what He wants me to do with my life, He’s also pointed out the great areas that need work in my life.   It’s just so, “ ME ” centered I see two versions of myself, in a manner of speaking. CRAPPY ME Living a ME-CENTERED lifestyle is the “crappy me.”   Although God may not be at the center, I can probably still live a relatively nice life.   Besides, there are plenty of people with seemingly “successful” ministries, ...

I’ve been doing the 40 Day Prayer Journey the past few weeks, and recently I had a thought. Sometimes, our prayers consist of empty words and half-hearted fluff to God.  Of course we want Him to move in those situations, but we don’t pray like we actually expect Him to.  And that’s why God may give us a “Faith Booster.” Showing Off For a few weeks, I have been stressing about my summer job.  I need to make more money and work more hours this summer.  I had no idea how it would fit in with my internship, going back to school early, etc.  But by Day 5 , God already made a provision!  Not only did He completely work out my summer job, but I also made extra money that week, and received a free $50 visa gift card!  It was like God was showing off! This happened for Rebecca too.  Her dad has been out of a job for months, and she had occasionally been praying half-heartedly about it.  After getting halfway thro...

(By Rebecca Weiss!) We are all familiar with the Amish, the group of people who live in Lancaster, PA , throughout Ohio and Indiana, and live without modern technology. I've grown up knowing about them and visiting Lancaster quite often with my family on spring break. This group of people tend to keep to themselves and don't associate with the modern world. Sometimes, however, the outside world intrudes in on their simple lives. On October 2, 2006, a man stormed into a one man schoolhouse and shot 10 young girls, killing five. He then killed himself. The fact that this event happened, let alone that it happened to the Amish community, is very unfortunate. If the man had not committed suicide, many people would believe he would deserve the death penalty. Even if you're not a supporter of the death penalty, killing five innocent young girls would be a good reason to deserve such a punishment. However, what is most extraordinary about this event, wasn't the fact that ...