The Christian Financial Alliance was created to help readers.  The idea is simple: Create a panel of biblical finance gurus, who take seriously the call to teach the Bible accurately with grace and truth.  Once a month, we post a question with responses from our panel to provide you with well-rounded, sound, biblical advice.  For more information, or to join our team, go to Christian Financial Alliance.

What is one thing a Christian should keep in mind while thinking about/planning for retirement?

 To me, the questions isn’t what we should remember to plan for during retirement, it is ‘Is retirement a Biblical concept?’.  If we are going to truly walk in the calling that God has given us, that will never stop.  If we are in a J.O.B. that we are counting down the days to retirement from, then we are in the wrong place.  Our calling should radiate out of every part of us, it should be what drives us and ultimately, if we are living in our callings, I think it will provide for us financially.  If we are doing what we love and doing what God has called us to, why would we ever stop?

I am actually glad that this question was asked.  Many times I think as Christians, we get so caught up in the worlds systems.  Systems of politics, education, health care, entertainment, and especially – financially.  Retirement is somewhat of a new phenomena, starting just after the end of the industrial revolution as manufacturing companies began to include pensions for their workers.

I strongly believe that people are put on the earth for a purpose.  If you can find that purpose and pour yourself into it with everything you have, I believe you will live a fulfilling and prosperous life.  I also believe that once we stop living a purposeful life, our quality of life will deteriorate.  Lets look at 3 examples.

Bear Bryant

Was the longtime Alabama University football coach.  He lived from September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983.  The Hall of Fame coach was on the sidelines for the last time during his teams bowl game.  After the game he retired and was quoted as saying he would ‘probably croak within a week’ when asked what he would do during retirement.  Four weeks later he passed a routine health check-up and the next day he went back to the doctor complaining of check pains.  He died the next day.  He had coached for 46 years.

Andy Rooney

The long time 60 Minutes contributor.  He lived from January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011.  The legendary 60 Minutes commentator worked on the 60 Minutes team for 33 years.  Less than 5 weeks from airing his last broadcast, Andy Rooney died from complications of an unknown surgery.

Joe Paterno

The longtime Penn State football coach recently died after loosing his battle with cancer.  He lived from December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012.  Paterno had coached at Penn State for 61 years.  In November Paterno revealed that he had a very treatable form of lung Cancer, as a matter of fact he was suppose to make a complete recovery, later it was revealed that his cancer was in remission. After announcing in November he would step down as the football coach at the end of the year, the school fired Paterno immediately, stating that he would not be finishing the season as coach, due to a recent scandal that he had become associated with.  Three months later Paterno was hospitalized due to complications from his cancer and 9 days later he died.  Paterno recognized what happened to Bear Bryant could happen to him if he ever stepped away from football.  This is from an interviewer:

First, Patrick played a replay of an interview he had in 2008 with Brent Musburger, who talked about Paterno not wanting to be like Bear Bryant.

“Joe is fearful he will not be with us if he stepped away,” Musburger said in 2008. “He’s a man who doesn’t fish, doesn’t play golf, and has no other interests than his family and football. He’s just afraid what would happen to the rest of his life if he walked away from it. He and I have talked extensively about it.”

Whats the point?  We are here for a purpose, we are here to fulfill a role on the earth.  When we walk in our callings and are fulfilling our purpose we will be successful and we will flourish in that area.  Once our job on this earth is finished (ie Jesus on the cross, ‘It is finished’ John 19:30) then it’s time for us to move on to the next stage of life.  I don’t look at retirement as the ‘golden years’.  Our life is to be humbly submitted to Christ, it is no longer our lives.  To set aside our time and our money to relax and rest after a life of hard work, is not what I think Christ is calling us to,  I believe that Christ is calling us to a rich and fulfilling life that is filled with adventure and fulfillment up until that last day.  I think our entire life is to be filled with purpose and kingdom building work until the day we die.

What should Christians Keep in Mind While Planning for Retirement?  Don’t plan on retirement.

Related posts:

1. CFA July Question: Defining Biblical Generosity

For those of you who know me outside of the internet, you know that much of my adult life has been spent working in and around the wireless industry.  I spent nearly 5 years working in retail, starting off as a Blue Shirt Adviser (Retail Sales Representative) and working my way up to Assistant Manager, before leaving to go into ministry for a while.  However, during my time working for a Sprint Affiliate, I started buying and selling cell phones as a hobby.  At first I would buy phones to resell, as a way for me to pay for upgrades.  While I wasn’t quite around for the original bag phone, my first phone was before the first colored display model.  Since that first phone I have been a little obsessed with updating to the latest and greatest.  My current cell phone is none other than the iPhone 4s (expect a review shortly).

I think my hobby started sometime around June or July of 2006 when a generous customer of mine gave me a $100 phone for free because I had helped him out.  After that first phone I was consumed with trying to buy and sell phones to make money.  I became very good at that process and soon started making around $10K per year from my phone hobby – plus I got FREE phone upgrades!!!  Recently though, I have turned my hobby into my profession.  I have not had a job outside of buying and selling cell phones, since March of 2011.

I don’t know why I have always liked the name SquawkTalk, I think it’s because it combines my last name (Parrott – Have you heard parrot’s squawk before?) along with the fact that ‘Talk’ is what we do on cell phones (and yes it has that dual purpose of being how parrot’s talk – by squawking).  Anyway, I have liked the name for a while, but I never just got around to doing anything with it, recently that changed.

In December I registered the domain name www.SquawkTalkWireless.com and started putting together the site.  It took a while, because like most things, I grow weary of projects that take a while.  However, feeling motivated the other day I put most of the finishing touches on the site, and even though it’s a no-no, I started heavily promoting the site at about 90% completion.  That ‘heavily promoting’ part was finally making the decision to pay for advertising.  I have never really paid for any advertising before, but this time it really did feel like the smart thing to do.  I paid $75 a month to reach my EXACT target audience, and that site just happens to get around 120,000 hits a month.  I am hoping that my ad works out.  But more importantly, SquawkTalkWireless.com is my full time business, and since it is, I wanted to share it with you.  I have also added a link to the top menu here on DiscipleshipGuy.

What does my site do?  Well, you should check it out for yourself, but one of it’s primary purposes is to be my store front.  Many of the phones I sell will never be listed on that site, but my service will be and that’s important.  Many people are surprised to find out that my full time job is buying and selling cell phones, tablets and services.  They are even more surprised when they find out that I am supporting five kids and a wife.  To tell you the truth, much about where we go and what we do in life is surprising.  I am constantly amazed at the journey that the Lord takes us through, and lately there have been several… let’s say ‘teaching moments’, that the Lord has been doing.  Many times I want to give up what I am doing and move on to something that is more secure or something that has benefits but then I remember all the blessings that God has provided through this opportunity.  Anyway, take a second and check out my new site, SquawkTalkWireless.com and if you need a cell phone let me know

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1. New Partnering Options…
2. Materialism and it’s effect
3. Funny Work Stories…Part 2

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice DVD Package

Recently I had the privilege of facilitating a group from our church through the 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice DVD set by Mark Virkler.  Nearly 20 people from our church signed up to go through the class.  We took 13 weeks to go through this 10 DVD set.

The first week we met we spent the time getting to know each other, passing out handbooks and journals, answering 10 questions about their current ability to hear God's voice.  Next we watched 1 DVD a week for 5 weeks.  During week 7 – the midpoint of out class, we spent the time practicing hearing God's voice for ourselves – and each other.  This was a great opportunity to practice what we had been learning.  The next 5 weeks we continued watching 1 DVD per week.  The final week we spent going over our initial 10 questions that we had answered during the first weeks class.

The reasoning behind the 10 questions was simple, to give us a basis for understanding where we where before the class, as well as how much we had grown during the class.  Our group all experience impressive growth in our ability to hear God's voice through Mark Virkler's teaching.  At the beginning of the class  most of the people in the group described their ability to hear God's voice as a 1 or 2 on the scale of 1-10.  However, by the end of the class most group participants would describe their ability to hear God's voice as a 8-10 on a 10 point scale.

Mark Virkler does an excellent job of teaching everyone how to hear God's voice through the 4 Keys, which are:

1. Stillness Yourself Down
2. Looking for Vision
3. Tuning to Flow
4. And Journal

However, in my opinion, the thing that Mark Virkler does better than anything else, is to help you break out of the things that prevent you from hearing God's voice.  Many times we hear God's without recognizing it, however, it's the fear and doubt that prevent us from acting on what we believe God is speaking to us.  I would highly recommend this teaching to anyone who want's to be able to hear God's voice, it will change your life!

4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice

Price: $11.55

(4 customer reviews)

36 used & new available from $10.15

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The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

A while back I was on Lance Walnau's web site, LanceLearning.com, and he was promoting a free download if you registered for his free newsletter.  Since I was interested in his site, I was considering the newsletter anyway, but what really got my attention was what he was offering.  It was a PDF download of the 50 Commands of Christ.  This sounded pretty interesting to me, so I went ahead and signed up for his newsletter (which I would suggest you do as well).

To be honest, I have had the download for a while now, but I never got around to reading it.  It was one of those things that I knew I wanted to sit down and really take the time to look at it, but that sometime wasn't now.  However, recently I saw it again and it caught my eye.

One of the things that I really appreciated about this PDF was that Lance starts off by giving 9 Promises that Jesus gives to those who obey His commands.  These nine things that Lance mentions are all very good things that we all want in our life.  Every one of the promises Lance mentions also has a Bible verses next to it.  As I looked through these promises, things like God's Love, peace, true joy, purification,  answers to prayer, I knew, I wanted to know more about what Christ's commands were.

 The first command that Lance mentions is to be reconciled to others.  The second command is to not commit adultery, the third is to keep your word.  If you thought you were keeping Christ's commands, it get's a little tricky around number six, which is to be perfect.  This is when it hits me, I can never fulfill all of Christ's commands.  

In all of the entire New Testament, Jesus gives us 50 simple commands, He doesn't say what music to listen to, what to wear, what to drive, Jesus never tells us not to drink or do drugs.  As a matter of fact, Scripture doesn't tell us who to marry, where to live, or even what job we should have.  Now I know that 50 commands may seem like a lot to think about, but if we had to list all of the rules and commands of our Christian sub-culture, I can assure you we could come up with more than 50.  To be honest I stopped reading after number 6.  I need more time to reflect on each command as I read them.

What I cannot get out of my head though, is that I can't even get past number 6 on the list.  As a matter of fact, if we were to measure ourselves according to the measurement that Jesus will use against us, how many of us can get past number 1?  If I can't keep the first one, is there any use trying to keep all 50 at once?  Of course we can accomplish all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13), but it gives us perspective of what Christ is actually asking of us, as Christians.  He doesn't want a half hearted effort.  He want's all of us.

I would highly encourage you to all go out and sign up for Lance's newsletter so that you can download the PDF as well.  Yes, I did link to the PDF, but why not support the guy who put it together?  If you don't like it you can unsubscribe later.  After downloading the PDF and taking a look at it, come back and leave a comment.  How well are you keeping the commands of Christ?

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1. Matthew’s Mind: A Good Name is More Desirable Than Great Riches

The Christian Financial Alliance was created to help readers.  The idea is simple: Create a panel of biblical finance gurus, who take seriously the call to teach the Bible accurately with grace and truth.  Once a month, we post a question with responses from our panel to provide you with well-rounded, sound, biblical advice.  For more information, or to join our team, go to Christian Financial Alliance.

How do you define Biblical generosity?

I think there are many personal, views on what is or is not generous.  One example is to bring up the idea of what we should tip a restaurant server.  Your views will be all over the map.  How much is right, is more than 10% too much, should you tip generously or based on some criteria, etc.  The questions that always seems left un-answered is, 'What is the motivation of your heart?  We can not truly be generous if the motivation of our heart isn't based on love.  1 Corinthians 13:1 says that we can essentially do any good work possible, but it's worthless if we don't have love.

To me, there is one very straightforward answer that we can find in scripture.  The passage can be found in Luke 10:25-37, everyone knows the parable of the Good Samaritan.  It's the story of a Samaritan (who was hated by the Jews), stopping alongside the road, and helping and providing for a Jew, someone that socially despised him.  This is the present day equivalent of a well known political nemesis, the star player on the team that just beat your team, or someone from a different religion as you.  And what Jesus is asking you to do is this, stop what your doing, help them out, and provide for their needs.  There is only one way that we are able to meet the scriptural example of being generous.  We must love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31), and we must be willing to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Being generous is an attitude of our heart, it's based out of love, and comes from within.  The Biblical example of being generous is seeing a need and doing what you can to meet that need.  Does someone you know have an outstanding bill that needs paid?  Do you see people who can't afford new clothes?  Is there someone who has faced with fixing something that recently broke.  In these examples, can we pay their bill, take them shopping, or help fix or replace what is broken?  If our life, not just our answer is yes, then I think we are living a Biblically generous lifestyle.

I don't think we can live a Biblically generous lifestyle as long as we have the mindset that we own things.  Everything of ours must be surrendered to the Lord.  We can't have the mindset that  we have a job, we go to work, and we earn a living, so what we earn is our own.  We must live in such a way as to recognize that everything in the earth is the Lords (Psalms 24:1).

Throughout scripture there are many names attributed to the Lord.  Each of these names reveal something specific about the Lord.  One of the names revealed in scripture, is the name Jehovah-Jireh, which literally translates 'The Lord will provide'.  If we recognize that the Lord is our provider, everything we have is because of Him and from Him, and that we don't own anything ourselves, I believe we will be much more likely to give of ourselves and our possessions. In the end, I think that Biblical Generosity is an attitude.  It comes from two places, it comes from an understanding that what we have doesn't belong to us, and it comes from loving others as ourselves.  Here is a short, challenging video on generous giving by Francis Chan.

You can watch several more video's on Generous Giving.

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First of all, I am a little bit late to the discussion, I know.  However, when I first heard about this book that Rob Bell was writing, called 'Love Wins', it was after reading a blog post somewhere on the topic.  Shortly afterwords people all over the web were giving their opinions of Rob Bell, the book, and his ministry.  Many people were stating that you can't judge the book based off of a short video – especially before you have read the book!  Those same people said that the video was just a promotional video and that Bell knows how to stir the pot to drum up sales for his book.  Many others claimed that what Bell was presenting was clear, he was preaching Universalism, and they weren't going to stand for that.

This subject became a very emotional and heated discussion.  After all, would a good God really send people to hell?  I spent a lot of time reading what people where saying – especially those defending Bell.  Many people who read the book were people who were defending him, and I wanted to hear what they had to say.  Here is the promo video for you to watch it yourself, from the site, RobBell.com/LoveWins.

There are many immediate thoughts that go through a person's mind, whether they agree with Rob Bell or not.  Shortly afterwords Bell did an interview with a guy who clearly disagree's with Universalism, and claims that Rob Bell is spreading this kind of belief.  While Rob Bell clearly denies several of the points that the interviewer makes, he also leaves many people wondering what he does actually believe.

I have had several conversations with people who are fan's of Rob Bell and his work.  I have read blogs by his supporters, and I have come to conclude that I disagree with both Rob Bell and his supporters.  One of the best articles that I have read on this topic is by Kevin-DeYoung, a small town pastor in Michigan.  DeYoung is both fair and balanced, and he tries to keep his opinion out of the equation and only base his article on what the Word says vs. what Love Wins says (he did read the book).

I also really appreciate the perspective that Francis Chan provides.  I am also looking forward to his book coming out, as I think it will bring balance to the discussion on Heaven and Hell.  Chan goes through not only what the Bible says, but why it's important that we accept what scripture says.

Throughout this whole debate, the one thing that I have a problem with more than any other is simple.  Rob Bell has a VERY large amount of people that he teaches and ministers too through his books, Nooma video's, and church – Mars Hill.  As a teacher, if Rob Bell is wrong, he is going to be held responsible (James 3:1) for what he has taught millions of people!  I don't have a problem with Rob Bell questioning what he believes or even what is true.  My fear is that as Bell goes through this journey, there will be those who accept his questioning without researching for themselves what they believe.  This may lead them to accepting a theology that prevents them from living the life Christ died for, or even worse yet, keeping them out of Heaven!  That is why I really love what Francis Chan has done.  He was gone back to the Word of God and searched for what the Word says.  For all of the people who follow Bell but don't come back around to the truth, what will happen to them?  And at what level will Rob Bell be held responsible?  What do you believe on the subject?  And more importantly, do you know what you believe for yourself or did you get it out of a book?

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1. My thoughts on Coincidences…

In Revelation 1:4 John writes (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) to the seven churches in the province of Asia.  In October of 2010, there were 25+ authors who presented their own letters (the 8th letter) to the Church in North America.  The event was hosted by Andy Crouch, Sr. Editor at Christianity Today and the author of Culture Making.  In addition, Rachel Evans created a synchroblog where you can read letters from many other bloggers.

I found this project several months late.  After taking some time to read some of the contributions, I have decided that I would like to submit my own eighth letter.  After much reflection, this is what I believe Jesus would say to the church in America today.

And to the Church of North America, I have this to say to you: I know your works.  I know how you give generously to missions and to church building projects.  I know how you feed the hungry and counsel those in need. I know how you study the scriptures and vote for righteousness in government.  Yet I still have this against you: as a Body, you have allowed yourselves to become divided (1 Cor. 12:12).  You argue and bicker over small doctrinal differences, yet you don't love.  You spend time debated carpet color and which translation of My Word is true, but you neglect actually carrying out My Word.  "And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand." (Mark 3:25).  If you are to walk like I walked, you have to walk in unity.  When you are focused on Me you are over-comers, this is your destiny, it's who I have called you to be.

You have also neglected your first love.  You have neglected spending time alone listening to my voice.  You are caught up in ministry and you try to do this yourself.  Many of you are neither hot nor cold, you have become lukewarm and I am about to spit you out of my mouth! (Revelation 3:16)  Beloved, you are not strong enough or gifted enough to do ministry on your own.  You spend time praying and asking for My direction, but you don't listen so that you can hear it.  Some of you even reject my authority and power to carry out the tasks that I have given you!  Oh Beloved! I am your source, I am you rock, your fortress, you must come back to your first love, you must come back to Me!  In the quite place you will find comfort, acceptance, love, and grace.  My dear child, I long for you to spend time in my presence, for there you will find your strength!

Finally, I have seen who you are, I have seen what you will be.  You will face troubles and persecution like you have not known before, but take heed.  for '…behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' (Matthew 28:20).

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The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

While watching the Brennan Manning video below, I was thinking about a particular story he told.  He talked about having the opportunity to pray over someone and anointing that person with oil.  Many times as Christians we want a minister or pastor to pray over us and anoint us.

The reason we want other ministers to pray for us is simple, we think that minister will have more favor with God or has some gift that will have a positive impact on our life.  The reality is, this very well may be true, that God may bless that particular person.  The Lord wants to move through that ministers life.  The fact that the minister is praying for you may mean that God will meet whatever need you were pursuing at that time.  God may chose to bless the ministers prayer for you simply because of the favor He has for the person praying for you.  However, this is not because God loves that person more than you, but because the minister has sought out God's presence and a relationship with Him.

The reality is, the Lord is inviting you to this same relationship that He has with the minister.  By seeking out the Lord, spending time in His presence, and getting to know Him, we have the same access to God that any other minister or preacher has.  As a matter of fact, this is the very relationship that the Lord is calling us to.  He wants to pour His anointing and presence all over us.  When the Lord does this, we will see answers to prayers for those we are praying for.

Will you allow yourself to seek God and pursue Him for the sake of receiving Him?  This is what He is asking of us today. 

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: Who do You Think God is?
2. Matthew’s Mind: Waiting on God
3. Matthew’s Mind: God’s View of You

Recently, DiscipleshipGuy joined the Christian Financial Alliance.  This alliance is focused on  defining a set of core beliefs regarding biblical finance and holding ourselves accountable to it.  The great part about this is simple:  There are many bloggers in the blog-o-sper who claim to base their financial principals on sound Christian advice / doctrine.  However, how can we know what they are basing their beliefs on?  The Christian Financial Alliance gives us a guideline on 20 Core Beliefs that we can keep bloggers accountable to (all who join the alliance that is).

I was just thinking about this issue of how can we know if someone is really offering sound, Christian, Biblical, financial advice, when I found this alliance.  Rob Kuban is the founder of the Christian Financial Alliance, and one of the things I have really appreciated about these Core Beliefs is the overall balance in these Beliefs.  Here are the 20 Core Beliefs of the Christian Financial Alliance:

1. I believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). My heart, soul, mind, and strength seek to glorify God through the pursuit of Christ, and it is my hope that my life and financial management will reflect this fundamental purpose (Luke 10:27).
2. I believe the Bible is the supreme authority and source of truth and instruction for Christians; therefore, I seek to root my financial teaching in the truth of God’s word (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
3. I believe stewardship does not equal salvation (Acts 8:20). We are saved by grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). No financial action can save a soul (Matt 16:24-26).
4. I believe God owns everything (Ps. 89:11) and I am merely a steward of His resources for His purposes (Luke 12:42).
5. I believe the heart is the focus of the New Testament’s instruction regarding money (2 Cor. 9:7). This does not make obedience contingent upon our feelings, but calls our attention to focus on the intentions of our heart (Prov. 21:2).
6. I strive to be rich towards God (Luke 12:21) and not place my hope or trust in riches (Rev. 3:17-19).
7. I seek to serve God as my master, not money (Matt. 6:24).
8. I believe how we spend our money reveals what our heart treasures; therefore, if God’s kingdom has its rightful place in our hearts, it should show up in our budget (Matt. 6:21).
9. I believe prosperity is not the purpose of Christianity (John 6:29). It is a gift that God may or may not choose to give (1 Sam. 2:7), and should be handled with generosity and humility recognizing that to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).
10. I believe Christians are called to be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:11) because God has given us everything we need in Christ (2 Pet. 1:3).
11. I believe we are called to be wise stewards of resources (Luke 12:42) but not consumed with a love of money (1 Tim. 6:10).
12. I believe stewardship, generosity, and contentment are fruits of a deeper walk with Christ, not ends in themselves (1 John 5:21). I seek first His kingdom and wait for the rest to be added (Matt. 6:33).
13. I believe the Bible does not speak highly of the bondage caused by debt (Prov. 22:7); therefore, it should-if nothing else-be approached with extreme caution (Prov. 22:26-27).
14. I believe Christians are called to be generous (Acts 20:35) to their family (1 Tim. 5:8), God’s kingdom (1 Cor. 9:14), and those in need (1 John 3:17). After these things, we are free to spend money on ourselves (Prov. 10:22).
15. I believe heavenly reward awaits those who choose to invest in God’s kingdom (Luke 12:33), and whether or not God chooses to bestow earthly reward is up to Him (Job 1:21).
16. I believe integrity is more important than financial gain (Prov. 10:2).
17. I believe money can be a blessing and a curse depending on the heart of its holder (Luke 6:44-45).
18. I believe that the way we handle our money should be a testimony of our devotion to God not a distraction from Him (Col. 3:17).
19. I believe there are many things in life that are more important than money (Prov. 23:4-5).
20. I believe true riches are found in Christ alone (Eph. 3:8).

Source: DollarsandDoctrine.com

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The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

I have had a frightening thought that I have struggled with for as long as I remember.  I have always wondered what the difference was between the Jews that walked the earth during Jesus times vs. present day, largely American, Christians.  I have often wondered about this because growing up I didn't see a lot of difference between the world and Christians.  I constantly battled with this idea that all I had to do to be saved was accept Jesus as my savior and that was it.  That was the difference between me and the unbeliever.  Almost every Christian I knew judged how good they were based on their actions, as if salvation was by our good (or lack of bad) works.

Growing up, Christianity was a works based religion.  No one I knew really knew Jesus personally, we said we did, because we were taught that we had to know Him personally to go to Heaven.  So if we wanted to go to Heaven, we said we knew Jesus personally, but who actually did know Him personally, and is that even really possible?  And when we think about it, what was the difference between our present day pastors and the Pharisees and Sadducees from Biblical times? I struggled with these thoughts constantly. 

Yesterday I watched a YouTube video on the rapture from a highly controversial minister, who said some highly controversial things (Go Figure?).  However, one thing that this man said really stuck out to me.  He said that the only people Jesus ever gave a hard time to where the religious leaders.  He also talked about how Jesus sent Peter to the Gentiles (through the vision on the rooftop), the very people the Jews tended to hate.  I thought a lot about this all of last night.  As I am thinking back on the people Jesus hung out with, it was the tax collectors, the prostitute, He taught on loving your neighbor (the Samaritans – a hated group), the lower level society types (His Disciples), etc.  Who did Jesus condemn? It was the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Religious Leaders of the day.  Jesus called them the broad of vipers, He tore apart the Temple, and constantly exposed holes in their theology through His teaching and debates with them.  However, we never see Jesus doing this with the unbeliever.

All of these thoughts began to bring me right back to where I started growing up.  What makes us different from the people who lived during the Bible times.  As Christians it seems like we are doing the same things that the Jews were doing.  Obviously many of you would disagree with me if I said we hated the following groups, but I will let you chose the words that describe how you feel towards the following groups:

• Liberals
• Homosexuals
• Prostitutes
• Drug Dealers
• Child Abusers
• Sexual Offenders
• Muslims
• Buddhists
• Catholics, Charismatics, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists (which groups don't look like yours?)
• Mormons
• Scientologists
• Jehovah Witnesses
• Illegal Aliens
• Homeless
• Anyone else?

What about if we named names?

• Hitler
• Osama Bin Laden
• Saddam Hussein
• President Obama or Bush?
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Stalin

When I think about a lot of these people / groups, I wonder if these are the people that Jesus would be hanging out with?  These are the kind of people He targeted in His day.  This is why so many Jews had a hard time with Him.  One of the things I thought about a lot last night was this, 'Are we the exact opposite of who Jesus was/is?'  Do I hate who He spent time with and not judge those who He judged?  Do I think that I am ok because I go to church, listen to church pastors who heap us down with legalistic laws that aren't even Biblical?  If you don't think this happens ask yourself this question, 'Where in the Bible does it say not to drink alcohol?  Is there any place in the Bible that tells you directly that you should drink alcohol?  Does this line up with what your taught or what your pastor says?  Isn't this the exact same thing that Jesus criticized the Jews for?

Many may ask, aren't we suppose to refrain from the types of things that the people do in your list?  Sure, we are suppose to refrain from sinning in every way, but we are not to refrain from the people.  I think Christians would be more successful spending time with the people and loving them.  As a result we may get them saved, and then we can show them how to live.  Instead, we tend to tell people how they should live and then we try to convert them when they have more hostile feeling for us.

In a teaching on how to hear God's voice, Mark Virkler (Communion WIth God Ministries) said the the Lord said that he was a Pharisee.  Mark Virkler didn't like that very much and set out to find a book that would tell him what a Pharisee was or how they lived, that way he could prove he was not a Pharisee.  When he went to the local bookstore to find some books, he couldn't find a single book on what it meant to be a Pharisee.  Mark then pointed out that this is a weak point within the Body of Christ that we have thousands of books on systematic theology and every other kind of theology, but we don't have any books that teach us how to avoid becoming a Pharisee.

I think Mark Virkler makes a valid point, if we want to avoid being the kind of people that Jesus rebuked we are going to have to take a long, hard, honest, look at ourselves.  Do you hate the people Jesus spent time with?  Do you view yourself the ways the Jews saw themselves, do you think your safe because of what you do or what you believe?

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: Christian Thoughts
2. Matthew’s Mind: When Someone Becomes Saved…
3. Matthew’s Mind: The Parable of the Lost Sheep

I have been using Google Voice now for about 2 years.  At first I had many questions about what Google Voice was or how I could benefit from it, however now I find that it has become an integral part of my communication.  However, since many people still aren't familiar with Google Voice and what it is, let's start with that.

Google Voice: What it is

Think of Google Voice as a service that enhances your current telecommunication.  This simply means, that Google Voice provides a set group of services that integrate seamlessly with your current telephone, cell phone, and even Google Chat!  Here are a couple of the benefits of Google Voice according to the Google Voice website:

• Block Unwanted Callers
• Conference Calls
• Do Not Disturb
• FREE Google Voice Number
• International Calling
• Personal Voice-mail Greetings
• Port Your Number
• Screen Callers
• SMS to email
• Transfer Calls Between Phones
• Visual Voice-mail
• And More!!!

There are many ways that these features can be implimented, for instance, all those telemarketers that use to call, well now they are going to have to find another number to call from.  Whenever I receive unwanted calls I just block that caller using Google Voice.  Whenever that number calls my phone they can hear a customized message, or a system standard message.  I generally use the system standard message, which tells them my number is no longer in service.  There are tons of useful ways to be able to screen callers, have custom voice-mail greetings for different people, as well reading voice-mail transcripts instead of listening to them.

One of the major selling points of Google Voice, is that you receive a FREE Google Voice number.  This however, can also be something that prevented the very thing Google was trying to accomplish – having one number for all of your phones (home, cell, business, Google Chat, etc.).  While having another number can come in very handy for things such as giving business contacts your Google Voice number AND receiving those calls using your phone of choice, it also meant if you only wanted one number, you had to give everyone a new number.  This sort of defeated the point, yet many did this very thing.  I personally used my Google Voice number for giving out to people on the web, like on eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook.  This way I knew me personal number was safe, and if I got any harassing calls I could just block the caller.

There are many other ways to use Google Voice.  There is the website, Google Voice for mobile website, and Apps for Android, Blackberry, and IOS (iPhone).  With Sprint and Google Voice now integrating natively, this means that you can also use Google Voice without an app or website!  Google Voice is now available for any 'Sprint' phone (Does not apply to Boost, Nextel, or Virgin Mobile).

Sprint + Google Voice:  What it means

Recently the Google Voice Blog announced to the world, their intent to play nice with Sprint.  Instantly there was a large buzz created over what this would mean for people who currently have Google Voice and Sprint.  Here is what Google Voice had to say in a video (from their blog)

You can view the Google Voice + Sprint integration pages from Sprint or Google.  However, the question is, what does this mean to you?  The big thing that this integration provided, was Google's original goal – one number!  As of this Sprint and Google Voice integration, you can now chose to use either your Sprint or your Google Voice number as your cell phone number.  So, if you want to, you can make your Sprint number your Google Voice number.  You will loose your current Google Voice number, but it will remain active for 90 days to allow all of your contacts get transfered over to your Sprint number.  This means that any feature that you were use to using with your Google Voice number, can now be used with your Sprint number.

Benefits of Integrating your Sprint Number with Google Voice

• View your Voice-mail online or send it to someone via email
• One number for all your phones
• The ability to create custom voicemail messages for different people
• The ability to easily block unwanted callers
• Make and receive calls and sms on the web

Some things I like about the Sprint + Google Voice integration

• For the first time, I can truly give out one number
• I can use my Sprint number on my AT&T phone as well as the internet
• I don't fear giving out my number online
• I can use all of the amazing Google Voice features without anyone even knowing (read: seamless integration)
• The lag is gone from making calls.  This was an issue before the integration

Some things I don't about the Sprint + Google Voice integration

• I still have to use the stock sms app for MMS messages
• There were some instances where it was nice to have two separate numbers, that's not an option anymore
• Many times conversation threads with sms get broken and there is no way to merge them
• When I send a message from the stock sms app it doesn't sync to Google Voice
• Still no wi-fi calling

What about you?  Have you had your Google Voice number integrated with your Sprint number?  Do you like how it works?  Make sure to sound off in the comments below!

Update:

Google will now allow you to integrate your Sprint number with Google Voice and still keep your Google Voice number.  There is a one-time $20 processing fee if you would like to do this.  You can read more about integrating and keeping your Google Voice number with Sprint.

Related posts:

1. Just bought the HTC Hero for Sprint!!!
2. New Location…
3. Bank Robbery

Recently I wrote a post on an event that was held at our church, First Assemblies of God, in TIpton, IN.  Here you can read about 'The Prophetic Conference' and some of the topics we covered.  The reason why I wrote about this is simple, for the first time in my life, I was asked to be one of the speakers.  Since I had never done anything like this before, I wasn't exactly sure on how to approach this.  I spent a lot of time creating an outline for each of the two sessions that I would be speaking at, and then created a handout that correlated with each of the two sessions.  I have put included it below:  

The Seer – Handout

After going through the conference and looking back, there are many things that I learned from.  While I did a good job of going through the handout during the first session, the second session was lacking in this department.  In addition, during the second session I was finally able to connect with the attendee's for the first time.  I was sharing a personal story and I hit on something everyone could relate to and the room erupted in laughter.  From that point on there was a different atmosphere in the room.  However, this wasn't lacking during the first session, it was something I tried hard to do, it just didn't happen.

Another aspect I noticed was that people really embraced the second session in a deeper way, mainly due to the personal stories.  This is obviously an aspect that people really enjoy, but during the first session I was focused on teaching, so in future events I have to find a way to teach better through stories. 

Finally, I would have described myself as dry prophetically for the last several weeks.  I had lost a lot of confidence in myself (probably not such a bad thing, considering what the gift is).  However, I came out of the conference much more confident and secure in who I was, as well as my ability to 'See' accurately.  The Pastor of the church had kind of put me on the spot after the second session on Friday night, as well as Saturday afternoon.  Both times he asked me to ask the Lord to show me things for the people who attended the event.  While this was a very on the spot thing, I was pleasantly pleased with the reactions of the attendee's.  

Overall I am very glad that I had the opportunity to do this event.  I know several ways where I can improve, I have a better grasp of my strengths, and I have a better idea of what it feels like to go through this.  

Related posts:

1. The Prophetic Conference
2. Part 3: The Prophetic Process…

On May 20th and 21st the First Assemblies of God church in Tipton, IN will be hosting a Prophetic Conference.  The focus of this conference will be on the following topics:

• What is Prophecy
• What the 'Seer' gift is
• How to use the 'Seer' gift
• How to use the prophetic
• Why Character is necessary
• And much, much, more!

One of the reasons that I am excited about this conference is because I will be one of the speakers.  This is a new realm for me, I haven't really been the teacher, most of the time I have been the student.  That being said, I am not entirely out of my element by speaking in front of people, I am comfortable with that.  However, I will be teaching 2 45 minute sessions, so that seams a little daunting to me right now.

Something that I find interesting is this, while we still lived in Florida, we knew that OHOP was going to be having a prophetic conference coming up.  As a matter of fact, they where having some of my favorite people coming to OHOP to do the conference.  Guys like Kirk Bennett (personal favorite), Aaron Evans, and a local Dream Interpreter.  This is interesting because if I lived in Orlando I would be going to this conference.  However, since God has us living in Tipton, I will be teaching at a conference on the same topic, the same weekend.  It's amazing how God works!

I am really looking forward to this weekend and if you are local and want to come, I would appreciate it!  

Related posts:

1. The Prophetic Conference: A Look Back
2. Upcoming Events at OHOP…
3. Part 3: The Prophetic Process…

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!  That's right, we are having our 5th child.  We are due sometime around the middle of November of this year.  But before I tell you anymore details, let me tell you a story.

The Story Goes Like This

Sometime around March 5th I was on a walk praying about several of the things going on in my life.  During this prayer time I started to tell God about how I wasn't ready to have anymore kids yet.  Aaron was about to turn 1, Rachel had just turned 2, Andrew just turned 4, and Rebecka was 6 and a half.  I was definitely not ready to have another kid.  During my prayer I would tell God how I wanted to have both of my youngest out of diapers, talking, walking, and overall not being babies anymore.  However – there is always a however – not my will but Yours.  During this prayer I felt a shift in my heart/spirit, even though I knew I wasn't ready to have another kid, I felt something change inside of me.

Very possibly during this same prayer time that I am having, Autumn is praying also.  She is crying out to God about everything going on in our lives, but she is also praying about having another baby.  She is praying very similar things as I am, telling God how she is not ready for another baby, things are very hard right now, and we just need a break.  Somehow though, she comes away with a feeling that something has changed within her.  She still isn't ready to have another baby, but somehow she feels like God has done something inside of her to make her just a little bit more prepared for us to have our next kid.

Prego Spaghetti Sauce

A Couple of days later, on Monday March 7th, Autumn opened up the refrigerator and her attention was drawn to a bottle of Prego spaghetti sauce and thought to herself,

'Huh, Prego, like a pregnant woman, I have never thought of that before.  That's kind of a strange name for spaghetti Sauce.  Wait, am I pregnant?'

Later that night Autumn and I were talking and she told me this story.  I have to admit, my initial reaction was that we were pregnant.  Autumn has been learning how to hear God's voice at a much higher level, I don't believe in coincidences, and this seemed like a sure thing.  I was also really nervous about the whole thing.  If there was any doubt about whether we were pregnant or not, it was erased when Autumn and I told each other about our recent prayer times.  The next day when Autumn and I discussed our previous night's conversation, I thought that maybe I was over-analyzing it.  For the next three days I thought that there was actually a chance that we were not in fact, pregnant.

Friday night Autumn and I were back to 100% confidence that we were in fact pregnant.  We debated about buying a pregnancy test but the cost was a large defer-er.  We thought they would be on sale, or cheap.  Atlas, they were not, they were very expensive, even Wal-Mart was out of the cheap ones.  Saturday night we were on the way back from some friends house and we were thinking about the next day, we would be moving back to Indiana.  Did we want to take a test just to be sure?  If we did then we could tell a couple people in person before we left Florida, and there wouldn't be any doubt.

The Test

We stopped at Walgreen's on the way home to buy a test.  We got home pretty late that night, got the kids in bed, and Autumn took her test.  The test was pass or fail.  Autumn passed.  This confirmed what we had initially thought, God had been preparing both Autumn and I in advance, for what He was about to do.  In addition the Lord chose to speak to Autumn through a bottle of spaghetti sauce.  Typical.

But Wait, The Story Get's Better!

Autumn and I have a process that we go through before we tell people we are pregnant.  We want to make sure that things are going well with the pregnancy.  We want to tell our kids first, immediate family second, then extended family and friends, then Facebook and the rest of the online world.  

Anyways, once we had been in Indiana for about a week, Autumn says to me, 'Matt, come here, you have to hear this.'  As I come into the room Autumn asks Andrew tell Daddy what you just told Mommy.  Andrew says to me, 'I had a dream that mommy had a baby.'  Autumn looked at me and mouthed (so as to not alert the kids what she was going to say), 'Should we tell them?'  As I shook my head yes Autumn said to the kids, 'Guess what?'  Then Becka said, 'Are we going to have another baby?'

So, we explained to the kids that mommy was pregnant and that we were going to be having another baby.  All the kids seemed to be very excited, Becka was rooting for a girl, Andrew was asking if he was going to be having another sister or brother, and Rachel just seemed to be happy that everyone else was happy.  Aaron really didn't know what was going on, but he is only 1 after all.

There's more to the story…

But I am going to save it for another time.  I will update this post once the baby is born to fill in further details that we don't really want to reveal at this time.  We feel very strongly that we know the sex of the baby, that was actually a part of Andrew's dream.  If he is right we know the name of the baby as well.  Rebecka actually told us a long time ago (right after Aaron was born), that God had told her she was going to be having another sibling (same gender as the one in Andrew's dream), so we are pretty confident in that.

While we really were not ready for this, it is clearly something that God seems to be in control of.  I have been telling Autumn that 5 is a lot of kids.  In our society it seems like 3 kids have a lot, 4 is a large family, and anything over that means that you must be a Christian Conservative, Home-Schooling family (which happens to be exactly what we are).  People in our society really don't understand people with large families.  When you have 4 kids it's like, 'Oh that's nice.'  When you have five it seems like people look at you different, like, 'What's wrong with you, don't you know how to control that?'

What people don't understand is the extreme blessing that children are.  Psalms 127:3-5 says, 'Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.' and Proverbs 17:6, 'Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.'.  So, we will gladly accept as many blessings (children) as God choses to bestow on us.

Rebecka Joy	Andrew Levi	Rachel Alyzabeth	Aaron Matthew	Baby #5 ???

And P.S.

WE ARE HAVING A BABY

Related posts:

1. WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!
2. New Baby!!!
3. Some things husbands may need…

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

Just recently I had a situation occur, which had a less than ideal ending.  Something happened that really upset a friend of mine, and he responded by saying to me, 'Matt, it doesn't matter if it was your fault, it still reflects on you.'  Without going into the entire ordeal, I will just say that I didn't do the thing that my friend was upset about.  However, after I got off the phone with my friend I was still pretty upset.  I was sitting on the couch messing around with some apps on my phone, and I was praying about the situation.  I kept arguing with myself and asking God whether or not it really reflected on me or not.

In Proverbs 22:1, it says,

'A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.'

As I kept on thinking about this idea of having a good name, I couldn't help but apply it to my recent conversation with my friend.  As I really pondered this idea of having a good name, I wondered about everything that it could apply to, and what kind of value it had to people and to God.  I can't really explain the revelation that God was giving me, but I started to understand why this was important to God.

There were several things that God did reveal to me about a good name, things I am able to put into words.

1. How I live, greatly effect how others see me.  This should be pretty obvious, but many times we don't think that people will know what really goes on.  Many times we take shortcuts that we don't think people will see, but God sees, and many times, others do as well.
2. For guys who are married, how your family acts and approaches life, reflects on you and your name.  This is why it's important for us to have our house in order.  When our kids act out in public, this reflects not just on the kids, but the parent's also.
3. How we live reflects on God, since we are His children.  At least it shapes how others view God.  This is why many people refuse to become Christians.  People see the way we live, the shortcuts we take, and the way we treat family, and they don't see an answer to the problems in their own lives.

Honestly, we probably all come up with things that we do every day that reflect on our name, but why is a good name more desirable than riches?  I am glad you asked.  This is actually a very easy question to answer when you think about it.  What is there in life that you wouldn't trade for money?  There are several things we should all be able to come up with:

1. Our families
2. Our faith
3. Our friends (we hope)

In addition to the list above, there are many things that a good name can provide for us.  If we maintain a good name, there is a chance that at some point that could provide riches.  We all know of stories or people where the good person was given opportunities that others weren't given because of their reputation.  Many times promotions at work or recognition for outstanding accomplishments go to those who are hard workers and have been diligent.  Money may or may not provide those opportunities for some, but if you have a good name then you don't have to try to buy those things.  A good name also provides trust in relationships – something that can't be bought.  A good name can also provide a clear conscience, something we know money can't buy.

In the end we are left with the realization that a good name can get you riches, but riches can't get you a good name.  It can also provide you with opportunities that you never knew existed.  I think a good way to look at it is this:  if you have riches then you could have money, opportunities, and recognition.  If you have a good name, you can still end up with those things, but you get everything else thrown in.

How important is a good name to you?

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: Great People of God suffer much
2. Matthew’s Mind: Are We Pharisees?
3. Matthew’s Mind: The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Back in March, IHOP-KC had two speakers talk on the issue of Holiness and Righteousness.  Both of these video's are phenomenal, I especially like the one by John Melinde.  You can watch both of them at the links below.

The first video is with Dwayne Robertson speaking on the Fear of the Lord.  In order to watch it go to the IHOP-KC Prayer Room, then use the scroll on the right hand side to go to 8 PM March 4th.  It should be called Laura Hackett – EGS.  Then skip to minute mark 14:20.

The second video is by John Melinde.  This is a hard message to hear, even for mature Christians.  John really forces you to take a deep long look at yourself, and then decide how much of God you want.  The end result should push you closer to the Lord.

UPDATE:

Apparently you can download the video by John Melinde from the IHOP-KC blog.  Here is the link to download the John Melinde Video.  From the blog post, you can watch the video, download the video, or you can download it as an MP3.

Related posts:

1. 2011 OHOP ATB and Events Schedule
2. God Won’t Relent
3. ONETHING Orlando – Update

I think there are still a lot of people who have un-answered questions about what we are doing in Indiana, why we moved, what are we doing about jobs / income, do I work for a ministry, what are we doing right now, etc.  My hope is it to provide some clarity for everyone, as well as answer any questions that I can about what we have been doing, what we are doing, and what I see our future looking like.  If you would like, you can read all about our move from Orlando, FL to Tipton, IN.

Why did we move?

Believe it or not, this question was not asked nearly as much as I thought it would be.  However, quite a few people have asked why we were moving, so this is a good place to answer that.  Basically the answer boils down to one simple answer: because God asked us to.  However, that still leaves a lot of questions, so I will try to answer that better.

It's my belief that God wanted to continue growing Autumn's and I marriage, as well as our family as a whole.  When I left Sprint and we moved to Branson, MO to be a part of LeadTime, it was to be trained.  God changed us so much in that one year of being at Doulos, it was so important to our family, but most of all we were trained.  However, our training covered things like living apart from family, leadership development, dependence on God, as well as many, many other things.

When we moved to Orlando, FL to be a part of OHOP it was again, for training.  This time though the training was much different.  God really focused on dramatically changing our perspectives on money, how to live by faith, how to operate and flow in the gifts of the Spirit, as well as doing actual hands on ministry in a church setting.  This training really changed our lives once again, and as a result our family was once again brought closer together.

Our recent move is the next step, and the training this time (I believe) is on how to stand on our own.  Don't get me wrong, as a family we have been standing on our own plenty, we have owned 10 real estate properties, made several moves on our own, been married for nearly 10 years, have a growing family with 4 kids, and have no debt other than our house.  However, standing on our own refers to our spiritual walk now.  My friend put it like this, 'God is going to give you your own stories to tell people.'  Once again, don't get me wrong, we have a lot of stories, but this is a little different.  The things that God is doing in us as a couple in spiritual warfare is different than anything I have ever had to do.  We are not at a time in life where God is taking the training wheels off and saying to us that it's time to do what we have learned.  All of this is why we had to move again.  The things that God wants to do in us, He want's to do in us in Tipton, IN.

Red Door.

(It was prophesied before we moved, that our house would have a red door.)

What are we doing?

We are currently seeking God's will for us.  During every transition in our life (to this point), it seems like I am un-employed and available to help do whatever needs done.  We have now been in Indiana for nearly one month.  During that time we have spent a lot of time un-packing our stuff (that has been in storage for nearly a year and a half).  We are getting situated with our things, getting a feeling for this season in our life, and visiting family.

Do I have a job yet?

No.  I would say unfortunately, but I know God will give me a job in His timing.  I recently spent time helping Mark Virkler develop his website, you can read about that here.  I have also begun to buy and sell cell phones again.  I am continue to search the classifieds for jobs.  The Lord actually spoke to me (and my wife, and a friend, and another friend) about me having a job in His timing.  I just have to trust Him and have faith that He will provide in His timing.

Are you a part of a ministry?

When we left Orlando, many people assumed that we were moving because I was getting a position at a ministry.  This isn't the case, but I understand why people thought this.  For nearly two years we have been in ministry (and training) to be full time ministers.  That doesn't seem to be what the Lord is doing with us at this time though.  However, part of the confusion also stems from the fact that God did move us to a church.  While I don't have any position at this church, the Lord did place us here specifically, so that is a part of the equation.  So, to re-iterate, we did move in part for a church, but only to be members of the church and not to be on staff.

Where are we Living?

We are living in a small little town called Tipton, IN.  It is close to Kokomo, IN and Indianapolis, IN.  In the process of moving back to Indiana God has provided a place for us to stay – just us!  It's a very large space, probably between 2,500-3,500 sq ft.  While the house probably wouldn't be found under Matthew or Autumn's top ten list of desirable houses, it is meeting our needs very well, and more importantly God's purposes for putting us here.  Many times there is more to God's ways than what we think, and I believe that God has specifically placed us in this house, at this time in our lives, for a reason.

So, what does the future hold?

Good question!  I don't really know for sure.  However, I do know that God is going to continue to grow our family, He is developing us in new and exciting ways, and we are being developed.  At some point I am sure I will be getting a job (probably at AT&T), I will probably be doing ministry outside of the church at some point,  as well as having opportunities to speak at our church.  I don't know how long the Lord will have us in Tipton, I don't know how long we will be living in this specific house, but right now my focus is on what we are doing in the here and now.  I know that part of the reason that the Lord has us here right now is so that we can be a part of what is going on in our family right now.  Hopefully at some point the Lord will have us back in Florida, but right now we are focused on getting rid of the training wheels.  Taking off the training wheels can be a scary experience, so we are focused on what it is we are doing today, and we trust that the Lord will work out the details.

Have any questions?  Feel free to leave them in the comments sections, I would love to hear from you!

Related posts:

1. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 2
2. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 4
3. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 1

This is a story that I have not really told a lot of people, about how I have had the opportunity to work with an well known, Christian, international speaker and author.  The story begins back in January of this year with an an email that I sent.  Before we get to all that though, let me give you some background information.

Dr. Mark Virkler

Mark and Patti Virkler have been married and active in ministry since 1972. Both received their Bachelor degrees from Roberts Wesleyan College and have also earned Master and Doctoral degrees. Together they have co-authored over 60 lamad-style books in the areas of hearing God's voice and Spirit-anointed living. They are the founders and directors of Communion With God Ministries (www.cwgministries.org) and Christian Leadership University, an internet school (www.cluonline.com). Mark travels extensively conducting workshops on how to hear God's voice and how to experience divine healing. They have helped establish over 150 church-centered Bible schools. Their grown children, Charity and Joshua, are active with them in ministry.  (This description is from his author profile on Amazon.com).  Here is a list of Books by Mark Virkler.

Some Background Information

Like I said, this whole thing started back in January when I sent him an email.  However, the background to this story starts further back.  When I was a Junior at Bethel College, I read Mark Virkler's book, Dialogue With God .  This book drastically changed my life, as it taught me how to hear God's voice!  One of the reason's that this book had a large impact on me, was how I learned to hear God's voice.  As I would read the book, there were exercise's at the end of each chapter.  As I would do the exercise's God would teach me things that would happen later on in the book.  Let me explain.

Once while I was trying to hear God's voice I had a very difficult time overcoming some obstacles.  However, one of the things that the Lord did, was He showed me how to overcome these obstacles.  After this happened I read the next chapter.  The topic for the next chapter was on overcoming obstacles.  Then Dr. Virkler proceeded to outline the exact steps that I had taken, in order to overcome the obstacles I was facing in hearing God's voice.

The very first time that I sat down to journal what I felt the Lord was speaking to me, I felt very clearly that the Lord said, 'I love you.'  To which I replied, 'Is there anything else that I need to know?'  Then I felt like the Lord said, 'No.'  Well that was a very short journal entry, and it was my first one, so to me, even though it was what the Lord was wanting to share with me that day, I was a little disappointed.  That was until I read one of the later chapter's in the book.  Dr. Virkler shared a testimony out of a journal entry of one of his previous students.  His journal entry was EXACTLY LIKE MINE.  VERBATIM!  Well, when someone else has the exact same experience that you do, that validates your experience.  This type of thing would continue to happen to me.  The Lord would say things to me or teach me things that the book would bring up later.  This validated my experience and the book.  This gave me confidence that my experience was real and legitimate, I wasn't just making it up.  Here is a video by Mark Virkler on the 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice.

How Did I Come to Work With Mark Virkler?

At one point I strongly considered taking some classes at Christian Leadership University.  Since I was very interested in taking classes I spent a lot of time on Mark Virkler's websites.  At the time I found them informative but hard to use.  In January of this year, after checking out his websites again, I found them the same as I had before.  While reading on one of his site's I felt like the Lord told me to email him and offer to help him redesign his websites.  While this may sound awesome, I am not a professional web-designer, nor do I have any training in this area.  I am self taught in some aspects, but let's be realistic, no international author is going to want help from some nobody who he has never met is he?  So I didn't send the email.  The next day I felt strongly that I was suppose to email him, since this impression had not gone away, but had even gotten stronger, I felt like it was from the Lord and I needed to do this.  After all, the worst that could happen was that I would either not get any response at all, or to be turned down from someone whom I had never met.

One of the hard parts about emailing Mark Virkler was not explaining my qualifications, it was telling him why he needed his site redone.  This is what I emailed him,

'To whom it may concern,

First of all I wanted to say that I love your ministry and specifically the book Dialogue With God.  I have recommended this book and given it as gifts many times.  Recently I spent some time at your website and found that there was an abundance of information but sometimes it's hard to use.  I hope this doesn't sound to aggressive or forward, but the last couple of days I have really felt like I should email you and volunteer to help you redesign / update your site.  I am currently unemployed and looking for work, so I currently have the time to work on it.  I really just want to help you out and am not looking to make a bunch of money (though if you wanted to give me some books or something in exchange I wouldn't say no…).  I am not a professional web designer, but on my own time I have built some sites, you can view my blog here: DiscipleshipGuy.com, I have a community site called myChristianConnection.org that should be available to see soon, as another example of my work..  I have no idea if your interested or not, but I just thought I would let you know'

That was it.  He emailed me back the very next day and said he would love the help.  He had hired a web developer, they were using a software called Drupal, and to keep in touch because they weren't quite ready yet.  I emailed Mark once every week or so for about a month, and then he was ready for my help.

Helping with the 'Communion with God Ministries' Website…

The great thing about the web is that it is accessible from anywhere.  So, for several weeks prior to moving to Indiana I began working on moving a bunch of content over to the new site they are developing.  I worked on the menu structures, building content pages, and creating product pages for the store, as well as customizing the itinerary page.

Not only was Mark Virkler gracious enough to offer many of his products available to me for FREE, but he also ended up sending me money as well for my time and efforts.  At one point we were talking on the phone about how everything had transpired and he said to me, 'Matt, we really feel like you have been a gift to us.'  When he said that it really touched me.  My name Matthew means 'Gift from God', when Mark said that to me, he was really re-affirming to me, that this truly was God who had set this up.

Recently, we got to a point where it didn't make sense for me to continue spending time developing the website until the web developer finished some other work.  So while I am currently not working on this site, I did want to update people on what I had been doing.  It meant the world to me to be able to help Mark Virkler on his website.  I was able to talk with him on the phone about many topics besides just the website.  I am also hoping to get to meet him at one of his event's this year.  We actually have quite a few things in common.  But one thing that I really wanted to share was this:  Out of all the people in the world, out of all the messages that we as Christians receive, to me, the most important thing is hearing God's voice.  And the foremost authority on this topic is none other than Mark Virkler.  I think it's absolutely awesome how God works in our lives in even the small things.  Allowing me to spend time working with a top author in a topic that is more important than any other to me, show's God's goodness.  I don't know if I will continue working with him or not.  I don't know if what I have been able to help with will turn into a full time position (like he had talked about at one time) or not.  What I do know is that I really appreciated the opportunity to work with him, and it was only possible by the grace of God.

P.S.  Since the new site is not finished, you won't be able to go see any of my work yet.  Hang tight, the new site should be fully complete and running sometime around the middle of 2011.

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: Are We Pharisees?

A while back I wrote a post on Funny (or not so funny) Food Combinations.  These food combinations were a collection of what I would call 'unique' flavors.  As I was standing in the kitchen the other day, I opened up the fridge and grabbed a whole dill pickle.  I was a little hungry already and the dill smell was making me salivate.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I took a bite and heard the very crisp crunch of the pickle I was now eating.

While the pickle was really, really, good, I realized how much effect the sound of eating the pickle effected my enjoyment of the pickle.  The pickle could have been horrible, but if you were standing there next to me when I ate it, you would have wanted one two based off of the sound alone.

I made a comment to Autumn about how I bet she wanted a pickle now also because of the way the pickle sounds when you eat it.  Then I started thinking about other foods that have sounds that contribute to the enjoyment of eating them.  While I didn't come up with a large list, I do think you will agree with some of them.

Food's with great sound's while eating them:

1. Pickles
2. Crisp Apples
3. Potato Chips
4. Carbonated Drinks when opened
5. Coffee poured into a coffee cup in the morning

To quote Seinfeld,

'Well, I don't wanna get into the whole physics of carbonation with you here, but you know the sound a can makes when you open it?  That is the sound of you buying a whole can.'

What foods would you add to this list?

Related posts:

1. Funny (or not so funny) Food Combinations

This blog post is Part 5 in the series Moving to Indiana

Originally I was going to do a 3 part mini-series, which turned into 4, which has now turned into 5 posts, this should be the last one.

The Prelude:

Our plan was to go to OHOP on Sunday in the morning and when service was over we would leave OHOP and Florida to drive to Indiana.  We had spent Saturday afternoon loading our Penske moving truck (I only use Penske, they have always been the cheapest and they have treated me great!!!).  Saturday evening we spent finishing packing the van and moving all of our stuff out of the house.  I left the moving truck at the Johnson's house so I wouldn't have to drive it all the way back to our house and then back to the church the next day.  As a result, we had to pick up the truck after church.

Since OHOP's services generally run late we also had to eat.  So we were at OHOP until 3 PM eating and saying goodbye to people.  When we left OHOP we spent another hour talking and saying goodbye to the Johnson's and picking up the truck.  When we finally got on the road, it was already 4 PM.

The Drive:

This was the first time that Autumn and I have had to move without an extra driver.  When you move, you always want someone driving the truck, someone driving the van, and someone available to help the kids, for this move that didn't happen.  While our kids handled the driving pretty good, we did have to stretch the trip into a 3 day drive instead of 2.  On Sunday night we drove until right around midnight, however, we only got to Macon, GA. since we stopped for dinner for nearly 2 hours.  We stopped and stayed at an EconoLodge Hotel (which is a Choice Hotel).  We always try to stay at Choice hotels since we are Choice Privileges Members and we can earn points (more on that later).

Monday we got a little bit of a late start, but I could really tell that Autumn wasn't going to be in the mood to drive the 12 hours (and arrive at 1 AM) to Indiana, so we decided to check into another EconoLodge Hotel – but a little earlier this time, in Bowling Green, KY.  We stopped driving at 7:30 PM and ordered Pizza Hut and relaxed.  Initially I didn't want to be in hotel rooms for 2 nights, mostly due to cost.  However, after getting the hotel the first night we were able to stay at the second hotel for FREE by using our point!!!  However, this hotel was a dump.  It had only 2 of 5 working lights, a hole in the bathroom rood, ceiling coming down over the shower, and the furniture was in disarray.  For this, Choice Hotels gave us our points back, and we literally, paid nothing for our stay!  Tuesday morning we were back on the road and driving, arriving in Tipton, IN at 5 PM at the Brock's house.

The Arrival:

 After dinner at the Brock's house and spending some time talking about the trip, we went to a Bible study that night with members of our new church, Tipton Assemblies of God.  Wednesday morning we were able to see our new house as a family, as well as unloading the moving truck.  That night we stayed in our new home, mattresses on the floor, clothes everywhere, and everyone in one room, but it was only our family. 

Since our arrival in Tipton we have been blessed with some groceries and some people who have helped clean, put things together, watch kids, allow us to do laundry, and help us un-pack, but we still have a long ways to go.  Initially we thought we would wind up in Kokomo, IN, be working for AT&T, and only be at this house temporarily.  So far I don't know if any of those things will happen.  We feel like God may have placed us at this specific location for more reasons than we were initially aware of.  There are some things that will make that difficult (like the age of the house, size, layout, and un-even floors), but if that's what God is doing, then we will be better off for it.

Now What?

 There is still a lot of stuff that we don't understand, we don't feel like we have lot's of the answers yet.  However, I am feeling more confident (even if I miss Florida), in our decision every day.  In many ways there are season's of our life where we are taught, I feel like in some ways this season is a season of training – but not really teaching, if that makes any sense.  I think we (our family) are about to enter/have entered a season that we feel un-prepared for.  Yet, this season if going to take us to take us further than we could have imagined.  I truly believe that whenever this season is over (and by season I mean when we inevitably move someday), we will look back and wonder about how far we will have come.  We will think back to who we are when we got to Tipton and we will not even recognize who we were, because we will have become to incredibly different people (Autumn and I).  This is already happening, and in many ways there is apprehension, and in many ways there is unimaginable excitement!

To read all of our posts in the series, click on Moving to Indiana

Related posts:

1. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 2
2. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 3
3. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 1

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

I was sitting in the prayer room one day watching someone lead a worship set.  A couple days prior someone told me that the particular person who was leading the prayer set had set themselves aside for celibacy.  While I watched them play I began to get offended.  I wasn’t really sure why I was getting offended, but the more I watched the person play I started getting more and more offended.  There were many things going through my mind, many were very ridiculous…

One of my thoughts was that the person had kept themselves in very good condition, was an attractive person, and seemed to be very talented.  Thoughts that the person was witholding themselves from pleasure and experiences for what?  I thought that it was a waste.  Why was that person withholding themselves from such great experiences.  Don’t they value having kids?  The Bible says that children are a gift from God, in fact many times people equated the amount of kids they had with how blessed they were, the more children the more blessing.  Why was this person giving that up?  Why were they hiding themselves from what you and I experience every day?

One of the things I was told about this person was that this person had to hide themselves as a way of keeping themselves out of the eye of everyone and to help them-self remain single.  The more active and a part of community they would become the harder it would be to remain single.  With this knowledge the person decided to refrain from the glamour and fame that they could otherwise had.  Ironically there is a song written about this very issue.  It's called I Will Waste My Life off of the album Relentless and it's by Misty Edwards who is a full time worship leader and intercessor out of the IHOP-KC Missions Base

As I started thinking about this I thought about everyday life experiences that would be done alone, going home to an empty house, keeping a low profile to help maintain this person’s singleness.  They had already thought about and strategies on how to attain this goal, but why?  What is the pay off?  A holier than though?  A 'I am better than everyone else?'  We can look at them and say wow, look what that person is doing, isn’t it great?  But I don’t know if I think it’s great, what if I think it’s a waste?  I know all the Biblical things that people will say, the Christianeese, but I didn’t care about all that.  Paul talks about this topic in depth in 1 Corinthians 7, indicating that to some God gives the gift of celibacy, but I don’t know that the life is better, I am still not convinced.  And this is where Jesus reveals why my mind is offended.

My mind is offended because it is still a very carnal mind, and the value I place on total surrender and total giving up of my wishes, desires, etc, for Christ I thought was a waste.  This tells me the value I put on Christ.  God wanted me to see where my mind places value, and so far, it’s still very worldly in it’s judgement's.  I know that in Heaven, and within the minds of some who are Holy they will see the beauty in it, but I just wasn’t seeing it.  Thus the offense.

Here are the lyrics to Misty's song:

I will waste my life I'll be tested and tried
With no regrets inside of me to find I'm at Your feet

I'll leave my father's house and I'll leave my mother
I'll leave all I have known and I'll have no other

Chorus
I am in love with You There is no cost
I am in love with You There is no loss
I am in love with You I want to take Your name
I am in love with You I want to cling to You Jesus
Just let me cling to You Jesus

I'll say goodbye to my father my mother
I'll turn my back on every other lover and
I'll press on yes I'll press on

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: God Wants to Give You His Anointing…
2. Matthew’s Mind: Jesus is Alive
3. Matthew’s Mind: When Someone Becomes Saved…

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

Recently,the Orlando House of Prayer (OHOP) hosted their February Awaken the Bride (ATB) service.  During that ATB We had worship leader Marcus Meier and speaker Wes Hall from IHOP-KC come to OHOP.  During the conference there were several people healed of physical injuries, as well as people experiencing Holy Joy and Laughter.  While this is something that itself is highly controversial, this isn't the topic of my post today.

As someone from a very conservative evangelical background, it's always easy for me to want to sit back, watch other people, and try to 'discern/' if what is going on is really from the Lord or not.  Truthfully, most of the time this is not discernment, but rather a critical spirit.  I don't know why I feel like it's my job to make sure everything that happens is kosher, as if I have a perspective that encompasses all of the Bible.  Yet, this is what I do.

On several occasions during the service the speaker Wes Hall said, 'Don't sit there and watch what's going on with everyone else, participate in what the Lord is doing so you don't miss what He has for you.'  I think that most ministers must say that at some point during their ministry sessions, but for some reason, this time it really stuck out to me.

Without getting into the whole dialogue of whether or not God moves in the way my church experienced at this conference, if God is moving, don't we want to be a part of it?  I kept on sitting there wondering what was happening, wondering if certain things were real or not.  Yet, I never wondered, 'What is God saying to me and what does He want to do for me right now?'  If I had the foresight to ask God what it is He want's to do inside of me (not trying to figure out what He is doing in others) it seems that I would be much better off.  Yet this reality hasn't sunk in to me yet, and so I sit there and judge other people and wonder what God is doing instead of actively participating in His presence.

A week or so after this conference I was talking with a friend about what went on and he made an interesting statement.  He said, 'People are either manifesting in the spirit or they are manifesting in the flesh, but either way they are manifesting.'  As I thought about this I thought about who the group was that was manifesting in the flesh was.  The conclusion changed my view of how I typically judge things like this.

People who were manifesting in the flesh could have been people who were getting ministered to, or people like me who were just sitting back and watching critically what was going on.  Likewise, those who were manifesting in the spirit could be those who were being ministered to, or they could be people that decided to hang back and just allow God to minister to them in their seats, essentially they looked just like me on the outside.  It was what was going on in the inside that differenciated us.

This is why it is so hard to judge other people, because we can't possibly have all the facts involved.  This has done something to me though, it has stirred me to want to be a participant in what God is doing.  Whether I understand what God is doing or not is not the point.

The point is, in whatever it is, whenever it is, will I decide to participate in what God is doing, or will I be a spectator?  Really, even if everything going on around me is of the flesh, it's still up to me to discern what it is God want's to do with me, and then participate with Him.  My participation with what God is doing with me, should not, and is not, dependent of what people around me are doing.  What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: God’s View of You
2. Matthew’s Mind: A Good Name is More Desirable Than Great Riches
3. Matthew’s Mind: When Someone Becomes Saved…

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

Do you want to make a difference with your life?  Do you want to make yourself like Christ? Do you want to see people's lives changed?  These are great things to strive for and the good news is that they are achievable.  The way you can accomplish these things is very simple.  Serve people. 

Do you want to be a success in anything?  Serve with truth.  Serve with your heart.  If you can do these two things, you will be in position to be like Christ.  Jesus was the ultimate servant, even to the point of washing His disciples feet (John 13:1-17).  

Too many times we try to overcome others, or we step on others to get ahead, we even use others to accomplish our own goals, etc.  However, you will attract much more attention (read customers if your in business) as a servant.  You will attract many more friends and goodwill from other by serving those around you, than you will by using those around you for your own benefit.  You will also become more like Christ as you humble yourself and put others before yourself.  First be concerned with others and then you will be taken care of also.

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: Living the way Jesus Lived…
2. Matthew’s Mind: The 50 Commands of Christ
3. Matthew’s Mind: God’s Sovereignty

This blog post is Part 4 in the series Moving to Indiana

The Move:

It seems like many times when you are about ready to take a step of faith, something happens that want's to cause you to doubt what your about to do.  This can be both the enemy trying to cause doubt, and it could be a test of faith from God.  Recently, after writing about all the things that were happening and signs that God gave us, several things fell through.

The first thing that happened was I was not considered for either AT&T job.  Not hired, not interviewed, not considered.  The second thing that happened is that our housing arrangements didn't work out.    When you look at both of these things, it could allow doubt to creep in, if you don't know for sure what God has said and what God has promised.  You may be wondering what happened in each of these circumstances, so here is a little bit about each one.

When I found out I was no longer being considered for the AT&T job if came as a big surprise and caused a lot of despair in me as I said, 'God why?'  He gently said to me, 'Because it is not time for you to have a job yet.  When it is time I will give you a job.'  This didn't really help me.  I know it should have, but I just didn't find peace in that.  Next I called a friend who God led to give me a prophetic word.  Basically he said, 'I feel like the Lord would have me to tell you that it's not time for you to have a job yet.'  For some reason hearing it the second time worked.  At this point I felt the peace again.

The next thing that happened was our housing fell through.  Ironically enough this didn't faze me nearly as much as the job situation.  I knew that God would come through, and within a day there was another very good possibility.  While we would have to pay a small some for rent, we would be in a MUCH larger place, and we would have it to ourselves.  In addition, I had previously had a dream about a place not working out, so I wasn't completely shocked that it happened.  And, to be truthful, I had prayed and told the Lord that our family really needed our own place.  I also told Him we needed our own place, so when a smaller partially shared place didn't work out, it was my fault because God was just answering my prayer.

The next question that comes up is why did this happen?  I really think that the job especially, was God showing me that when it's time I will provide.  It seemed to much to be a coincident that the very  day after God gives us a moving date that two jobs open.  Regardless of if I got those jobs or not, I think this was God reassuring me that His timing is perfect.

God has still been in the process of the move in every way though.  We were able to get a truck for nearly half the price of the going rate (and this included a car trailer), and we have been very blessed leading up to our departure.  Autumn had really wanted to take the kids to Disney World, and we got our opportunity to do that on Monday the 5th.  We also got to go to the beach for the last time on the 9th.  The kids were also given some McDonald's bucks that we were able to use to go to the World's Largest McDonald's (After Disney World!!!).  

While there are still many questions yet to be answered, like why are we moving, what's our purpose, what about a job, and what is our role at our new church, we know God is in control and we have complete peace with our move.  

To read more about our decision on Moving to Indiana read: Part 5

Related posts:

1. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 3
2. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 1
3. Moving to Indiana: The Mini-Series – Part 2

The thoughts of a renowned Philosopher…
Who is only renowned unto himself…

Sometimes these thoughts are really provoking or challenging, sometimes they are just something to chew on…

Why is it that our view of people changes once they experience their conversion to Christianity?

Most of the time it seems like it's because they were a sinner before, and now they are saved.  So, we rejoice at their conversion and begin to allow our trust for them to grow.  As this happens we become less skeptical of them and we begin to see them as a new creation and not who they were.  This happens to a greater degree if the person's life shows a greater amount of change.  To some degree we even begin to love them and accept them for who they are, even their current struggles, because after all, we know where they came from and we accept them.  Would you agree?

Why is it that we only begin to love and accept them after their conversion?  The only answer I could come up with is because they are now one of us.  A Christian, they think like us, believe like us, and are becoming overall more like us.  And we tend to do better around people are like us and have the same world view, goals, and idea's.  After all, what's wrong with that?

The answer is this: Just about everything is wrong with that.  In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus the parable of the Good Samaritan to the Pharisees.  Most of us know the story and the background, but just in case you don't here is the synopsis.  Jesus uses a Samaritan to provide an example of a person who was a neighbor to someone.  However, Samaritan's were people that the Jew's didn't associate with, they called them dogs, and didn't even like to talk about them.  Which is precisely why Jesus used them in His parable.  The point was to show the religious leaders that being a brother to someone who you don't like, or even worse, people we hate.  This Samaritan person wasn't a Jew, therefore the Jew's would have considered them unclean, and therefore probably going to hell.

Aren't the un-saved the exact people that Jesus was talking about in His parable?  Aren't these the people we avoid, despise, and even hate?  They are the drunks, the prostitutes, drug-addicts, maybe even people from other religions/denominations from us???  According to Jesus, shouldn't we already be loving these people, caring for their needs, not be so skeptical of them, and even accept them for who they are?  Brennan Manning talks about this issue somewhere around minute mark 35, but the entire video is worth watching.

What would it look like if every person we met, saved or un-saved, Christian or non-Christian, we treated the same as our closest friends and we cared for them, helped them with their needs, and even invited them into our homes?  What if we loved them the same way we loved our family?  What if the only thing that changed when someone was saved, was that we threw a huge celebration party for them because now they were going to heaven with us, and they meant so much to us that we couldn't contain our joy that this person that we loved so dear, finally had their name written in the book of life?

I think that we would have a lot more people who would want to become Christians.  I think that we would finally have the same love and heart for people that Jesus had for people.  I think we would see a lot more people getting saved.

Related posts:

1. Matthew’s Mind: God’s View of You
2. Matthew’s Mind: Are you a Spectator or Participant?
3. Matthew’s Mind: Want to Make a Difference?