When I Look at the Stars…

One of the things I like about coming home at night is seeing the stars in the sky as I exit the car.  I stand on the lawn, gazing up and admiring these balls of gas that are so astronomically beautiful! (Pun most definitely intended.)  They remind me of how small I am and how big God is.

And then I usually have this song in my head…

Come Expecting

If there’s one thing that stops from me walking the trail around my city more often, it’s the amount of times my pace is interrupted from people stopping and asking me when I’m going to write a blog post again.  My previous post was about my church turning ten years old, and it’s since graduated high school, so….

Speaking of church (which I started doing right before this paragraph), here’s a segue for you: I had a really good morning of worship this A.M.!

Blog post over?  Not hardly!  This is my first post in 2 1/2 years, and I am NOT phoning it in!  (That comes later.)

Time for some transparency: I don’t always find myself psyched about going to places.  At times, that includes church.  That really has nothing to do with the church I go to–which is what my over-thinking mind is concerned you will take away from reading this–and a lot to do with the mindset I’m in upon arrival, which I’ve found is easily determined by the following factors:

• How rested I feel.
• How late I’m running.
• How much time before church I’ve spent getting in a worshipful mindset.

What we do to get ready for church involves more than cereal, soap, and a steam iron.  This weekend, I made it a point to leave the house a little earlier, play some worship songs in the car on the way to church, and walk in the doors with the expectation of taking part in the experience.  It was a completely different attitude from waiting until the very last minute to get ready and then be grouchy from just barely make it through the auditorium doors in time, or hearing the first song start from the parking lot.

It reminded me of how I don’t always treat time with God like a priority.  God loves being part of our casual conversation throughout the day, but there are also instances where it’s best to be deliberate about making appointments to meet with Him.  It shows our devotion, and it shows we are there to listen and to receive what He has for us, as well as honor Him.

And I’m glad I was in the right mindset for this morning’s service, as it was all about hearing God’s voice:

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10 NIV)

I can definitely use all of God speaking to me that I can take. If that’s you, remember when you meet with Him that it’s always best to come expecting.

Join for me for my next blog post, in which I will share my thoughts on the outcome of Super Bowl 57.

TrueNorth Church: Ten Years of Life-Change

I write this post overcome with emotion.  I’m excited, grateful, reflective, contemplative, and anticipating all that is to come.  August 22nd marked 10 years since the launch of a church I’ve been happy to call “home” for most of those ten, TrueNorth Church.  It is truly ridiculously difficult to name all the ways God has aligned my heart with TrueNorth, and is still doing so.  It’s one of those places I just know I belong.  Even when looking into job positions that would’ve taken me away in order to serve a church in a vocational role, I would have truly been heartbroken had I left.  And I can honestly say that I’ve never been a part of something where I’ve witnessed more lives changed and impact made for the Kingdom of God.  I love hearing about this from other churches, but to watch it unfold time and time again has been a real blessing.  I thank God for ten years of a church that is living out one mission: transforming spiritual seekers into passionate followers of Jesus Christ.

From my first visit in August 2005, God used TrueNorth to speak to me.  At the time, I had fallen out of going to church on a regular basis, but felt it was time to start going again.  In fact, I let very little Christian influence get through to me at the time.  There was only one artist I was really listening to, and that was TobyMac. Imagine my surprise when this church I decided to check out used his song, “The Slam” in their announcement video at the end of what was already a dream-come-true service.  The service itself was refreshing as I’d been wanting to find a church with contemporary music and a casual style–similar to the environment of a Wednesday night youth service, summer camp, etc, in which I’d always had the deepest connections.  TrueNorth was that church.  And after several months of prayer and making sure this is where God wanted me, when I finally felt his call, I was more than thrilled to move my membership there.

I could go on with my story about all TrueNorth has meant to me, but you can read a little more about that here.  What has really hit me the past few days has been thinking about the bigger picture of the church.  As stated, they have stayed true to their mission of transformation.  This is a place where, during every service, there is a team in the back praying over that service, and each of our ministries.  This is a place where decisions are made by staff and elders that revolve around impacting the surrounding communities.  Hope centers exist in neighborhoods adopted.  Countries are visited by us, and we are visited by those countries.  Honestly, anywhere I’ve ever been with TrueNorth has been with people who always find something to do to make a situation better than they found it.  And then places we go have people who want to come where we are and return the favor?  Amazing!  Baptism after baptism, equaling well over 1,000 in 10 years?  Incredible!  The highest demographic of those baptisms being out of the typical age range?  Jesus, only Jesus!

But there’s more…

There are people I’ve seen come to TrueNorth who I never thought I’d see in church.  You know who I’m talking about, right?  The ones who you think it’d be really cool if they came, but it’ll probably never happen.  At TrueNorth, they came!  They come every Sunday!  And you were right…it is cool!  Bikers, people covered in tattoos and piercings, gamers, various ethnicities and multiple cultures, different lifestyles, smokers, rich rulers, alcoholics, fornicators, the hurt, the broken, those in bondage, those full of hatred, those of other religions, spiritual seekers, or as we know all of these…people.

And every one who comes gets a glimpse of Jesus.

Chains get broken.  People get healed.  And although I call TrueNorth my “home,” it’s not that.  It’s a hospital.  People are being rolled in with open wounds and they are sewn together.  People are are on their last breath and breathed into.  People are dead and raised to life.

It pumps me up to be part of a body where the Spirit of God is thriving and miracles are happening.  Everyone has an invitation to be free, and in that freedom, follow the One who set them free.

This is TrueNorth Church, and the best is yet to come!

The Full Circle

Be prepared.  Anything one set of well-meaning humans decides to do that gains some sort of popularity or notoriety, and is making a difference, there is another set of well-meaning humans who will come along with what is usually an equally well-meaning opposition. 

Set 1:

Set 2:

(For the record, I got a chuckle out of that meme.)

I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the Ice Bucket Challenge in the beginning.  I mean, the challenge was to either have a large bucket of ice water dumped over you to raise awareness for ALS, or donate money to the ALS Association, Opetation ALS, etc.  

And then in what seemed to be an overnight thing, what I saw a few friends on Facebook doing exploded into a widespread viral list of celebrities who were not only being doused in frozen high-quality H2O, not only calling out their celebrity friends to do the same thing, but many are also donating their celebrity dollars to a worthy cause.  And others, non-celebrity and famous folk alike, are shining a fresh light on a disease that I personally haven’t seen in the forefront in awhile.

I’ll chalk that up as a win.

I get it, though.  I understand the nausea that comes from overkill.  It’s like when a song you’ve been listening to since the album came out finally comes on the radio and is played in heavy rotation.  You’re done with it.  I mean, at this point the likes of Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Vincent Kennedy McMahon are taking the challenge.  It’s at its peak.  It’s leaning quickly toward being overdone.  I get all of that.

And because of that, now comes the opposition, as it often does.  Now is the less-fun time to have a news feed.  It’s the time where you’ll start seeing the blog posts and articles that will cite things such as the following: the wasting of clean water, other diseases that are just as horrific but not getting as much notoriety,  how a video, Tweet, or hashtag doesn’t cure anyone, etc. 

And, often times, many good points are made in these instances. 

But really….really….I wish we didn’t have to always have things like this circle around and become something negative. 

In fact, the ALS Association (which I didn’t know existed before all of these challenges began…hello, awareness!) is focusing on the positive, keeping an updated press release of how much money has been raised because of donations from the challenge.  As of this writing, the amount raised is $13.3 million, which their website says is up from $1.7 million from this time last year.  Keep up with total here. 

Awareness is a very powerful thing.  We as humans don’t always do the best job of getting it exactly right, but as you may be aware, that’s part of being human.  And although I know the Ice Bucket Challenge won’t stay a semi-circle, may we please have some understanding of the bigger picture?

Sincerely,

A Reader of the Internet

Tech Overload

I am quite the tech geek.  I’ve discovered this more in recent weeks than ever before.  My best friend is into comic books.  When we see movies based on them, he gets stoked in all the appropriate parts and always knows what they’re teasing during/at the end of the credits.  Meanwhile, I’m often left asking him a million questions about why he got so excited. 

This same friend (named Nat, by the way), recently got a Samsung Galaxy S5.  I’ve had a cell phone since my junior year in high school, but it wasn’t until June 6, 2012 that I got my first smartphone.  It was a no-brainer for me back then.  Ever since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, I wanted one.  It finally came to my carrier in 2011, and once it was time to upgrade, I didn’t waste any time.  Since then, it’s been me and the iPhone 4S.  

Two years later, and I’m eligible for an upgrade again.  I think back to my first days of the iPhone and the thrill of loading it with apps I’d seen everyone else using for a good while.  I was also quick to find many favorites of my own, as well as enjoyed searching through all the tips and tricks I came across.  It’s been a great two years. 

If you notice, though, the contract I’m on ends in the summer, while iPhones are released in the fall.  I am on a shared plan with my dad, who was fed up with his LG enV Touch in June 2012, as was I with mine.  Although I knew the iPhone 5 would be out a few months later, I didn’t miss my window of opportunity to get one in my hands ASAP.  

It’s a great time to shop for smartphones these days, and Nat’s Galaxy S5 is a beauty!  The day he bought it, he was kind enough to let me recommend apps, set different things up, and answer some of his questions.  So, basically I got to hold it.  A lot.  And it was awesome!  Being able to answer his phone questions in the way he answers my comic questions let’s me know for sure that this is one of my things.

I’ve played around with the S5 in Best Buy.  Two of my coworkers have one in my reach on a daily basis.  The temptation to get one now that I’m eligible has been nearly irresistible at times, to say the least.  It doesn’t help that this is the phone my dad has decided on for himself….

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But September is coming. 

After tossing and turning and almost jumping ship, I am pretty well locked in.  It will be a tough wait.  The goodness my friends are enjoying on their S5’s won’t make it easy… But I’m just way too excited about what the keynote masters will produce.  My decision now shifts between a flagship Android device and another iPhone to whether or not I want the alleged 4.7 or 5.5-inch version. 

At the end of the day, attention to detail won the battle.  I am ready, now more than ever, for the iPhone 6/Air/whatever.  And furthermore, I am ready for it to be September/October so I will finally be put out my misery of Googling for the latest rumors and reports (which are almost always rumors, too).  Let the overload stop, and the new experience begin! 

It’s Been a Minute…

January of 2013 to be exact.  I haven’t written anything in blog form since that time, other than scribbling a few thoughts down on my Tumblr–which tends to lend itself more to reposts.  And Twitter to retweets.  And Vine to revines.  And I think you get it at this point. 

But I’ve had the urge to start writing again.  And with that urge came a domain re-registration.  Stop by later for a bit more. 

Lunch at Work

I finally brought my lunch to work today.  Had leftover spaghetti from last night, and it was too good not to.

Here are my thoughts on eating lunch at work:

Advantages:
-Full use of your break with no time spent commuting.
-No money spent if you bring leftovers.
-You still have the good parking space from this morning.
-Time to write, read, catch up online, and watch TV if your break room has them.
-You can take your time getting back to your desk.  You’re already at work.  No since in leaving for it 15 minutes early.
-More likely to see friends from work on your break.

Disadvantages:
-Lunch preparation time.
-You don’t step out of the workplace.
-A new microwave to work with.
-Less adventure.

The advantages are good, but if I do it again, I think I want to build in a little time to leave work and get some fresh air.

If you’ve read this, you may want two minutes of your life back.  Sorry, all sales are final.  :)

Break-Sized Thoughts

Just a little break to go.  Let’s see…

-I overheard someone say “I’m only going to ask you one more time,” and then ask a question three times.

-I hope to see snow this year.

-I need a haircut.  No, it’s not getting my eyes.  I just I’d like a haircut.

-Still need to start bringing lunch to work.

-This morning was one of those where I randomly thought about people from the past.  In this case, it was old neighbors.  Glad I was able to message one of them on Facebook.

-No reply yet.

-I’m kind of looking the Sundays and Tuesdays off thing.  It gives me two fresh starts to the work week.

-I’m walking a mile Sunday, and then I’m digging.  Okay, more like 8/10th’s of a mile, but the shovel part is real.

-I better go.

-I hope everyone has a great day!

Yesterday and My Generation

As someone who entered the public school system as a first grader in the 1991-1992 academic year, I can remember being taught about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from a very early age.  Not only did I appreciate having a Monday in January off as a student, I learned of its significance and about the man whose life was being honored.

I’m not a historian.  There are very few dates I can quote you.  However, there are people like Dr. King who stand out in my education for all they’ve done to get America to where it is today.

There are many who weren’t brought up this way.  When I have conversations with those who lived through the segregation era, I am nothing more than thankful it was something I learned about rather than experienced.  How much prejudice would have ran through me in the form of racism had I been there?  What would I have deemed as acceptable?

What I got to hear about were figures who spent their lives changing the scene of this country.  Because of what God did through men like Dr. King, I was raised better for it.

If you have the time, watch this brief documentary from John Piper, who did grow up in the heart of separation by race.

Always Worth Celebrating

Today is always special for me.  It’s the day, four years ago, that I opened this blog.  While I’ve been in the habit of writing an anniversary post every year, it’s kind of funny how I made it to this one.  Each year around this time is also when I have to renew my web address.  That is also a good time for me to assess whether or not I want to keep going.

In the day of the status update or tweet, who really wants to stop and read several paragraphs of what their friend has to say?  I say that not out of pity, but rather looking at the changing times.  In all honesty, I can only think of one or two blogs of my friends I read on a consistent basis.

Personally, I feel that I get more feedback from what I write in 140 characters or less on Twitter and in just a few sentences on Facebook.

Maybe that was just a cop-out for me.

Towards the end of 2012, I’d stopped by my blog from time to time to see the post I’d last written become older and older.  It was really becoming difficult seeing the point of keeping this blog going.

That was until I got a text message out of the blue from a friend and long-time reader who said the following:

Hey, Matt. Your name popped into my head today. Not sure if you needed some encouragement with your writing or what, but God has put you in my thoughts today. I just want to say trust him, Matt. You have an amazing talent with words.

That inspired me to keep going.

My blog’s anniversary is small in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something I always like to celebrate with a post dedicated to it each year.  This year, the post you’re reading now, almost didn’t happen.

I thank all of you for reading, and for your continued support.  I received a message the other day that reminded me to keep the wit coming on here.  I posted something earlier in the week that would have been entirely too long to share in a tweet or status update.  In other words, I’ve been given a lot that there is really no other place for but here.  I look forward to continuing to share it with you.

Now, I ask the questions to you: What do you do that’s worth celebrating?  Is there something you’re about to give up on?  I encourage you to stay with it!

Until the next post…