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...

Jesus says that if we seek, we will find (Matthew 7:7).   Everyone in the world is seeking something.   The question is: what are you seeking?   “WHY?” PEOPLE These people seek excuses.   And they always find them.   There’s always an excuse for everything.   And that’s the thing.   If we are looking for excuses, we can always find one.   When God first calls Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, Moses makes excuses like he isn’t a good public speaker, the people won’t believe him, etc. (Exodus 3:11-4:14).   Moses was afraid to leave the comfort of his home to follow God into the unknown. “WHY NOT?” PEOPLE These people seek opportunities.   And opportunities usually present themselves as problems.   But if we are seeking opportunities, they will come our way.   One of the best examples of a “Why Not?” person in the Bible is the Ethiopian eunuch.   When the Ethiopian learned about being baptized, he bas...

There are so many different ways of doing church.   Mark Batterson challenges Christians to find ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.   That’s an awesome thought.   I want to be part of this new movement of church, instead of sitting around in what’s comfortable.   I recently attended Hillsong Church in NYC and seriously loved it.   Here’s why:             1. They are in sync with today’s culture             2. Worship and Word are central to the service             3. Their theology drives their philosophy 1. THEY ARE IN SYNC WITH TODAY’S CULTURE From worship to the media and even the fashion, Hillsong NYC is completely in touch with today’s culture.   All of their media is current and looks professional.   They take complete advantage of today’...

Starting this Wednesday, February 13, 2013, I am going to start a 40-day prayer challenge.  Valley Forge Christian College is doing this, along with reading Mark Batterson’s sequel to The Circle Maker called “Draw The Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge.”  Mark Batterson’s church in Washington, DC will be participating, and probably other churches as well. It’s going to be really cool knowing that thousands of other people are doing it together, from Lent until Easter 2013.  Who knows what God will do?  I’m excited, but also nervous.  I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything this big before.  But I know that awesome things are about to go down. The beginning of 2013 for me was not fantastic in terms of me spending time with God.  I’ve only recently gotten myself back into a daily quiet time (and let me say, it feels great).  But the goal of this prayer challenge is that I will still be praying on Day 41.  I...