Journey

New Year Update

2012-01-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

Amanda and I are really excited about this coming year. Especially because our wedding is just a little over 6 weeks away. March 3^rd in Columbus we will be tying to knot! We are super excited to begin our life together, but there is much to be done before the wedding. Currently, we are raising funds for the wedding, and we still need to raise about $5,000 dollars to pay for everything. In addition to that we are beginning to look for a place to move into together up here in Fargo once we are married, and as you can imagine on a limited budget that is somewhat tricky. So, there is a lot still to be done, but we are excited and know that God will provide.

Not only are we excited about our wedding, but we are super excited about what is happening with the ministry this year. This year Amanda and I will be partnering with churches and communities throughout North Dakota (Bismarck, Jamestown, Lisbon, Valley City, and more to come), South Dakota (Watertown and surrounding communities), and Minnesota (Fergus Falls, Breckenridge, Alexandria, Elbow Lake, Pelican Rapids, Devils Lake). This year as our team begins to engage even more towns across Minnesota we are planning to engage anywhere from 30-40 communities, more than a 100 churches, and reach 100,000’s with the Gospel.

Here is how everything is going:

· Jamestown, ND - has a meeting this week where pastors from the community are coming together to form a steering/leadership team that will help put together a budget and a timeline for their community, as well as begin to reach out to churches who are not yet engaged.

· Bismarck, ND – Up until last week we thought Bismarck was not going to move at all. Then through a lot of prayer God provided us with a local man who was willing to talk to churches and key people across the town, and is leading the charge in Bismarck. We are hoping to meet with pastors in Bismarck in the next 2-3 weeks.

· Watertown, SD – Next week we are meeting with a local pastor of a Baptist church, and we also have an old friend who just moved into the city who will be working with us to gather more churches together.

· And God continues to open up doors across the region: In Pelican Rapids, we just were connected with a business man and youth worker who is going to engage local pastors. In Fergus Falls, we have pastors working on getting other pastors together. And then in Elbow Lake pastors are waiting for a day to meet with us to discuss how to engage their community.

We are not only excited about how the cities are moving, but we are also excited about He is growing our staff and ministry partners. Currently, we have a school of 20-30 students in Kansas City. In 6 months, they will be given the option to join our team. Along with that, we have schools ready to go in the Summer and Fall of this year that will be training more people, so we can engage more cities, and see more people come to know Jesus.

In addition to more staff we also are getting more ministry partners. The International House of Prayer will be joining us in cities across the country to help raise up more effective prayer movements that will being praying for revival and major moves of God. In addition to IHOP, we are also partnering with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), Youth for Christ (YFC), and Stonecroft Ministries, that will be helping raise up a discipleship movement that will be discipling all those respond at our events, to help foster long-term community transformation in all the communities we partner with. One of the more exciting partnerships is our partnership with God TV who has agreed to broadcast some of our major events, which will enable us to preach the Gospel world-wide, and we are beginning to develop follow-up strategies for those who respond as a result of the broadcast.

It is awesome to see God open up doors, and to be a part of this amazing movement. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, support, and encouragement. It is because of you guys joining our team that this is all possible, and because of our team and the grace of God 100,000’s of people will hear the good news of Jesus Christ in 2012.

Conviction/Selfishness

2012-01-13T08:31:00.001-08:00

Today as I was driving to pick up Amanda, my fiancee, God brought me to a stark realization. In his gentleness, He convicted me of my selfishness. He showed me how much He had given me, people He had put in front of me, and insights/revelations He had given me. Then He showed me how I had taken those lights, and put them under a basket.

Now this decision to hide the light that the Lord had given me was not intentional. It was not as if I had saw the light, and intentionally decided to keep it hidden all to myself. Rather it was a sin of omission. I had the light and simply did not shine it. I kept it within. Partly because of laziness/busyness, and partly out of insecurity.

This was because I really did not understand what I had. I did not see the light the Lord had given me, and so I hid it. It really did not register to me that words of so many people that I encountered will not make it to countless peoples ears, and revelations God had given me may never be directly given to anyone else. The words of freedom I was hearing could never free people from their chains, simply because they would never encounter them. Thus it was my responsibility to share them.

In fact, that is what this blog is all about. Currently, there are not many people who view it, but there are some. God's desire for this blog is that it would communicate messages to people that would not otherwise hear them. In doing so I would become a bridge for those are not where I am, and thereby connecting to where I am, so they can hear what I hear and receive revelations God has given me. This is my job as a steward of God's grace.

A job that I have not been performing very well. So for those who read this please forgive me for not sharing the light that God has given me. Forgive me for not releasing the grace of God that He has called me to steward. I have buried my treasure instead of multiplying it, and that action is not worthy of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 25: 14-20). .

This is both a plea for forgiveness, as well as a call for others to do the same. You see I did not share because I did not count what I had worthy enough to be read and communicated, and as a result I was both unthankful for the treasure God had given me, and robbing people of a treasure God intend me to disperse. For those of you who are reading this you have a treasure that the world is waiting to receive and only you can give it. So, let's join together in taking our light out of the basket and fighting darkness. Let's go take on darkness, which cannot overcome our light (John 1:5).

My prayer is that you would have boldness to proclaim the Gospel and the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. May God grant you wisdom and the revelation of his love and power in your life, and may you never be ashamed of the Gospel that brings life to all who believe. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. May God empower us to be guides to the lost world. And may our lights shine brighter than the North Star as beacons of hope to the lost looking for a way home. In Jesus name may it be so. Amen!

Update from Fargo and I got Engaged!

2011-10-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

The tour is over! It was an amazing 3 weeks of outreach. God opened up the doors for us to do around 40 school assemblies, coupled with 16 evening outreaches. In those outreaches, He enabled us to preach the Gospel to over 8,000 people, and we had the privilege of watching 1,375 people respond to the Gospel call. It was such an amazing blessing.

Of the 1,375 people who responded. We had Muslims, Mormons, Jews, and Hindus all commit to following the Lord for the first time. In fact, in Ada we had an entire Jewish family begin to follow Jesus and experience the fulfillment of the Law in Christ Jesus, as well as entire Muslim family here in Fargo. What an amazing blessing to witness!

We also had the privilege of seeing 30 years of prayer finally pay off. One of the most amazing ladies in Fargo was our hospitality director, Kathy. Kathy had been praying for her husband to respond to the Lord, and to take up the spiritual leadership of their family. At the beginning of our campaign a team member prayed over her, and prophesied to her that her husband was going to take up the spiritual leadership of the family very soon, and that she would not have to wait much longer. Then at the GX event at Scheel's arena her husband responded to the tug of the Lord and gave his life to Christ. Kathy was in tears as she watched her husband walk forward to receive Christ, and now she has an amazing testimony of the effectiveness of persevering in prayer. Praise God!

One of my favorite testimonies comes from our finance director, Terry. Terry owns a company, and his national sales manager had the privilege of seeing his 6 year old son's life transformed by Jesus. At the GX event in Moorhead High School this 6 year old boy responded. Once the alter call happened he leaped to his feet and ran forward and started jumping around acting like he was about to receive a huge toy, as he was receiving Jesus Christ into his heart. Then as they were on their way home the little boy said this his dad, "Daddy, I can't believe I'm really going to live my life for Jesus now. God is going to be in charge of my life daddy from this day on." And as they were walking in the door he continued to tell his dad how awesome it was that he graduated to be with Jesus today. The day ended with Terry's sales manager walking into to put his boy to bed, but was interrupted when he walked into to see his little boy kneeling by his bed praying to Jesus thanking him for the evening and for coming into his life. He said it was all he could to hold back to tears as he watched his son praying to God. How awesome is that! Jesus is amazing!

There are countless more stories of all that God has done here in Fargo, and it was such a privilege to serve Him and watch Him work. I am excited for all that God did is doing. There is still much work to be done with the follow-up of the events, making sure every person is being taken care of and referred to a small group/faith community to be discipled on how to follow Jesus. However, God is faithful, and we know as long as we continue to serve by His side everything thing will get taken care of.

In addition, to all the excitement of tour Amanda and I got engaged, and are planning to get married on March 3rd next year! We are so excited for God to bring us together, and to walk this new stage of life as one. We are not quite sure what is next for us, but expect amazing things. We ask for your prayers and intercession as we seek the Lord for our wedding and next steps, and also for protection for Amanda as she makes the long drive from Kansas City to Fargo this weekend to join me and the team here in town. I am excited to be in the same town as her the 3 weeks of tour were hardly enough!

So, God is good, and I am couldn't me more excited for all that He is doing. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please leave a comment about how you are seeing God work in your life, and any way that I can be praying for you as well! God bless!

Matt

Love God; Love Others

2011-09-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

I just started reading a book on relationships by Dean Sherman. With Amanda and I going deeper into our relationship I wanted to read some books that would help me relate to her better, and ultimately help me become a better man for her, because she deserves the best, and I want to do my best to give that to her.

Anyways, I have been reading this book, and it has been amazing. There has been a quote that has been running through my mind since I read it, and for many people it may be obvious, but it has really hit me. The quote is found on page 17 of the book, it says:

“If we love God but leave out loving our neighbor, we become mystics. Jesus told us we cannot love God and hate our brother. He connected the two. On the other hand if we love our neighbor, but leave out loving God we are humanists. That’s where we are in society today.”

The reason this hit me so hard is because lately I have been struggling with seeing how all of this fits together. How do I engage in relationships with other people, and still make God my number one? How do I love Amanda, and still love God more than anything else? Is my pursuit of God somehow foiled or made less as I pursue others, and ultimately why do we do all of this on earth to only be wholly focused on God in the end? It was as if there was a separation or a competition between the two, loving God and being in relationship.

I read this quote, and it was not a new thought, but something clicked. It is almost as if something was knocked out of place, and reading these words somehow pushed back whatever was out of whack to where it was suppose to be. I realized or remembered we love God by loving others. In fact, it is out of our love for God that we learn to love others, and we are not just taught but moved to love others. His love for others and His heart for them is passed on to us, as we love them. And so as we love God we are pushed to love others, which is why Jesus said you cannot love God and hate your brother, because if you truly loved God, His love would cause you to love your brother. It is the natural byproduct of his receiving his love. We become love to those around us, through God’s love.

Then the amazing thing is that as we love each other we pour that love God poured on us back to Him. You see we show God how much we value Him, not just by spending time with Him, but by showing value to things He loves and created. I cannot say I love God, and treat the things that He loves like crap. So, I show God value and love, by loving Amanda. And as I love her and learn more of her value, which is endless, I realize how amazing of a gift she really is to me, which only makes me fall more in love with God, and thus I fall more in love with Amanda and God.

It is an endless cycle. God pours his love onto us, and then we fall more in love with him. He continues to pour out more his heart, which turns us to love those around us as we see His heart for them. As we love them we see their infinite worth and value, and fall more in love with the One who Created them and blessed us with their presence in our lives, God. He then pours more love into us, which we return to them, and to Him. It is a brilliant cycle, an endless cycle of love, joy, and value. It will stay that way as long as Jesus stays at the center of our lives, and that we never lose sight of the relationships around us. You see all of our relationship problems come when Jesus ceases to be our center, and when we fail to value the rest of the creation the He is so in love with.

However, if we do lose sight we must look to Christ; we must look deeper into His heart to see His yearning for His people, and let that heart become our heart, so that we can do nothing else but love those around us, like Him. We cannot love a brilliant painter, and treat His paintings as junk. And if we lose sight of Christ we must realize that to truly love those around us, we must love Jesus. We must look into the depths and infiniteness of those around us and realize there could be only source from which they came, and that is an infinite creator, and allow that truth to return us back to him

I know it sounds cliché, but this truly is our answer to better lives. Love God. Love others. It will unleash a cycle of love, joy, and value. We love God by loving others. We love others by loving God. Relationships are our priority!

I love you Amanda Joy! Thank you for spurring me on to a deeper relationship Christ. Jesus, thank you for putting Amanda into my life, the greatest gift you have given me outside of yourself! May I love her as you love her, and see her as you see her. You truly are an amazing King and an amazing Dad! I am blessed to serve you two for the rest of my life!

The Gift of Free Will

2011-08-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Free will. It is the greatest gift we have been given by God. This isn't written in scripture. However, it is written on my heart.

Free will gives the ability to choose, and with that choice we can choose God. We can choose love. And in that choice we can truly experience what we choose in a way not possible with compulsion.

It is through choice that we experience joy, and are ensured love. Love cannot be felt through compulsion. Love must be chosen, because love is a choice.

Jesus did not have to go to the cross. The Father, Our Abba, did not force him. Jesus chose to take up the cross for us. That is why the cross is the greatest symbol of love we have ever seen. If this were not the case the cross would merely be a sign of fatalism or at the very best obedience. But the cross was more than an act of reluctant obedience. It was the choice of a loving Savior that broke all the rules, and restored humanity. It restored love and our will to choose.

We are not puppets to God without choice. His heart is to write with us. He wants to create with us. Why else would Adam get to name the animals and subdue the garden?

It is in this choice that we choose God, and truly experience. As we choose and create with Him. We fall more in love with him, and he instills his heart in us to be co-creators.

Don't give up your choice. Do not even just throw it back to God. He wants you to talk to him and choose. Do not throw away your freewill for fear of disobedience and failure, because then you will throw away love. Rather choose like Christ chose us. For this is true love.

I think many times we treat God as the cosmic puppet master waiting for him to tell us where to put our hands and feet, and I believe this takes away our joy and God's desire for our lives. He gave us free will, so that we could choose alongside of Him. Not so that He could dictate every move that we make, thereby giving us fear of ever stepping off of his course and His will. I believe it is much more organic and free moving as we make choices along side of God.

This does not mean that we are free to choose rebellious ways, or to not consult Him, because the beginning of wisdom is fearing God and following His counsel. Rather, it means with Him in our hearts we radiate his glory and truth and make decisions with Him, thereby co-creating with our Father, which was His original design. God desires us to choose, and to live in that freedom.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)

You are not a slave, but a son or daughter with ability to create with your Father! What will you choose?

Write a comment below and leave any thoughts or questions! Let's begin a discussion!

Off to Kansas City

2011-07-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

With 59 days left until the tour begins in the Fall we are off to Kansas City. This coming week we will be joining the rest of IWT USA staff to learn and seek the Lord together for our ministry. We are in really exciting times, as we are growing and God is expanding our vision. There is a possibility for a long term base that will be planted in Fargo, as well as a school/base that will be built in Kansas City, that will help us train more staff, which will allow us to reach more cities and people! We will be praying into all of these possibilities this next week, as well as asking for fresh vision and revelation for the ministry. Please keep us in your prayers, and pray clarity as well as a rejuvenation as we spend time with the Lord.

Not only am I excited about how God is going to direct the ministry, but I am really expectant that God will give me a lot of personal direction on how I fit into all of these big plans. There are a lot of options and possibilities, so I am excited to have an entire week to seek God on all of this. And I am excited to be reunited with Amanda, who is doing her training down in Kansas City with IWT, and to be able to pray with her as well! (Please pray for guidance for our relationship as well) So, it is going to be a great week.

There is also a lot of excitement that is brewing here in Fargo. This last week we were able to engage leadership in two more cities that we have been working on for the past 2 months. In one community we have 5 churches committed to making the event a success, and in the other we have a church doing a kick-off this weekend, and volunteers from around the community that are rallying together to make it happen. In addition, we have 2-4 more churches that will be coming on board in the Fargo-Moorhead area. It is exciting to see God work, expanding the movement.

August is looking like it is going to be a packed month. We have 2 more staff moving into the area! We have 2 more banquets, engaging with the Catholic church, which is an amazing open door from the Lord, we actually were able to receive the approval from the Bishop of the Fargo Diocese, talk about favor! Not to mention numerous trainings and community nights of prayer and worship, and continue to develop the needed structures for discipleship and prayer in all the communities!

Please pray that we would have endurance and stamina in the busy season, as well as protection. Pray that God would raise up laborers, as we are seeking more volunteers to meet with kids and start small groups. And pray that more churches and ministries would come on board for this amazing move of God.

Also, I am looking for help/donations for two upcoming travel costs/plane tickets. One is so that I can take part in my bestfriends wedding in late September, the cost of the plane ticket right now is around $500 dollars. As well as a ticket out to LA in late November to attend/work at the Call2All International Congress. The plane ticket, hotel, and food will cost around $800 for the trip. Donations and prayers would be much appreciated! God bless!

Slowing Down!

2011-07-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in Heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few."

-Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

This week has been a busy one. There is so much to do, and we only have 10 weeks to do it. We still need to finish up our contracts with schools. There are 4 communities that still need to launch executive teams to lead their community, not to mention the countless things that need to be set-up in the community to ensure effective care, prayer, and follow-up. There is the budget that still needs completed, materials that we need to find and resource, and volunteers that we need to raise up. There is a lot to do, and at times it gets really overwhelming.

Then there is also the extra stress of what needs to be done with my finances. All the thank-you's that need to go out. The phone calls that need to be made. The letters that need to be wrote. So, that I can raise the money needed to pay bills and plan for the future.

It is easy to let all of this plague my mind, and I am sure that you have similar situations that are easy for you to let plague your mind. This week God brought this verse up amidst all that was going on, Ecclesiastes 5: 1-2. He spoke to me, and just said, "Matt, slow down! I want to talk to you. I have something to tell you."

I finally slowed down this morning, and He spoke to me. I was reading in 1 Thessalonians, and I got to Chapter 1, verse 5, which reads, "because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction." The Lord just started speaking to me about my word, and how He wants to unite it with His power, but that I need to wait on Him. I need to seek Him in the silence, so that He can fill me up with His presence for this is where the power is, waiting on Him. As all of this was pouring into me I received a peace and a calmness that cannot be explained. Everything is going to be ok because big brother Jesus is here! There is nothing to worry about.

So, often we are so quick to speak that we miss the whisper of Jesus, which is waiting to give us life and joy. We forget to be quick to listen, and we get busy speaking and doing, and then we get restless and overwhelmed, and we wonder where is God. We forget to wait on God who is so eager to show us the way, and frantically searching for Him, we miss Him. He is not far off, but He is near! (Eph. 2:13). We just need to slow down to see and hear Him. I think it may be time for us all to just slow down. Stop speaking. Stop doing. And just listen for the glorious whisper of our Dad. For He is in Heaven, and we are only on earth, and He has some amazing secrets to tell us and lavish on us. Secrets that will give us life, and life abundantly. Whenever we are ready to listen He is ready to speak!

The Trip Home and My First Week Back!

2011-07-02T09:36:00.001-07:00

The past two weeks have been full of ups and downs. There have been times of excitement, but also times of utter depression and desperation. However, amongst it all God has been faithful to reveal His hope and His mercy. He has been faithful to lift me up and use me. His love has once again proven itself to be more than enough.

My trip home was full of meetings. I met with 3-6 people every day; spreading the vision and looking for partners. God was awesome in lining me up with amazing people. I was able to connect with with around 40 people on my trip home, and I had 8 people commit to monthly partnerships, and a hand full more who are going to pray into it, which is awesome. I believe it will be no time until my monthly budget of $2000 is completely covered, with this new group of supporters I should be around $800 a month, which is fantastic, but there is still work to be done!

I was also able to meet with a lot of friends and family, which was really good. I miss them all so much, so having time to catch up with them is always good. Although because of the busyness of my schedule there was not nearly enough time!

One of the most exciting times of my trip back home was being able to spend time with my new girlfriend, Amanda, and her family. Amanda is an amazing gift from God, and I am so excited to see how God will use us together. She will be coming out to Kansas City in July to begin training with Impact World Tour, and I cannot wait to see what God does. And we would love your prayers as God guides us together!

I was also privileged to have the opportunity to preach at my home church, First Baptist Church of Massillon. Every time I go back I get excited to see how God is moving and growing my church family back home. It was so cool to see God move on Sunday morning. I am always amazed to see God work in stirring hearts and freeing his people. It was cool to see the altar steps filled both services of people seeking the Lord and getting freed! God is so good!

With all that in one week needless to say I was exhausted, and still am a little bit. But God is doing so much here in Fargo, and we are getting ready to kick it into high gear. This week we were busy with getting all of our venue contracts signed and into our office, so that we can begin preparing our schedule for the outreaches in the Fall. So, far we have 5 of our 9 contacts in and are expecting the other 4 will be in later next week, which is really exciting that will take away a ton of stress!

Once that is done the rest of the time will be involved in mobilizing the church to prayer, discipleship, and evangelism to prepare for the mighty harvest that will be coming in September and October. We will have a lot of upcoming trainings in small group training and evangelism. In addition, to that we are working on getting the logistical side of the tour taken care of, such as, housing, food, transport, materials, publicity, etc. So, there is a lot to be done, but God is more than faithful to guide and provide!

I would love all of your prayers and support. Please be praying for peace and rest. These last few weeks have been full of restlessness and anxiety, which is not of the Lord. God is teaching me to rest in his peace and security, but my analytical mind likes to think of every option, which is only driving me crazy. So, please pray that I would learn to focus on God and what needs to be done here in Fargo, and that I would learn to rest in His words, and not question them to be too good to be true.

We serve a great God! And I am so privileged to be doing what I am. Thank you for your prayers, and if you feel led to help support what God is doing here in Fargo through me feel free to click the donate button at the side of the page! God bless!

My First Day Home

2011-06-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

I am excited for the big things that God is going to do on this trip home. Through many hours of prayer and petition the Lord has spoken many words through many people of expectancy and favor. Today is the first day of meetings for this trip. The goal and purpose of this trip is to become fully funded, so that I can continue to do what the Lord has called me to.

Our nation is a stage of crisis. In a matter of 3 generations the church has lost over 61% of its church participants. The World War II generation also, known as the Builders, recorded that 65% of Americans were actively involved in church, which meant they attended church 10-13 times a month. Now today, the millennial generation, our kids, grandkids, brothers and sisters, are recording 4% church involvement. This means that for this generation they attend church on average of 2 times a month. This is due largely to the fact that we have missed two generations with the Gospel message. The last major evangelistic thrust in America was the Jesus Movement in the 70’s where the likes of Billy Graham and Ravenhill captivated hearts with the Gospel.

We are no longer in that era where we can simply preach the Gospel and people will respond and return to church. The framework of church has largely been lost in this culture’s mindset. This is why the work of Impact World Tour and Call2All America is so pivotal and timely. We will prepare the churches to reach out and disciple this lost generation, and then we will preach the Gospel where they are at in a way they can understand and accept. It is a movement that will be focused on 3 main initiatives that must work together: prayer and fasting, discipleship, and evangelism.

This is what I have devoted my life to seeing raised up. However, I cannot do this alone, and if left to do it along will fail. I need men and women like you to come around me to lift me not only through prayer and guidance, but also financially. In order to continue in this work I must raise a monthly budget of $2000/month, of which I am currently only at $300/month. Monthly supporters are crucial to the effectiveness of my ministry.

I want to boldly ask you to not only pray and intercede for the success of this trip, but also to prayerfully consider becoming part of my ministry team. When I asked God what was I to give to see this lost generation reached with the Gospel, He told me to give my life. Now, I want you to ask the same question. What is it worth to see a generation reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What is your part in seeing that happen?

Jesus wants our kids back! So, let’s go get them together.

There are multiple ways that you can support me. The easiest is to click the dontate button on the side of this page, and then you can do electronically over the internet. Or, you can make checks payable to YWAM Campaigns and mail those into YWAM Campaigns / PO Box 38 / Grandview, MO 64030 with a note marking the check for Matt Woods. If you have any questions please leave a comment or email me at mwoods@iwtusa.org.

The Unexpected

2011-05-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those unexpected God moments? It is something that you were never looking for, but inside you were yearning for. You were just going about your normal day, and then God drops it in your lap.

Yesterday I was at McDonald’s with two guys, Josh and Devon, that I am doing discipleship with. It was a normal Monday with the guys. We were going through scripture and eating fries, and then we met Erick. Erick had just gotten out of a same day release surgery, and was stranded in Fargo, with his home 2 hours away.

Seeing the Bibles laid out on the table, Erick asked what we were doing. After talking to him about Jesus and the Gospel Erick immediately asked to be baptized. Once we talked to him a little bit longer we found out we had the privilege of reaping a harvest that someone else had sewn earlier.

Then the question became, where do we go? At first we thought a church. But could not find a pastor. Then we thought the River? But did not have a change of clothes. Finally, we went decided to go the house where I live. Luckily, the Pastor I live with was home.

After talking with Pastor Dave a little bit, and being insistent on getting baptized before he went home we decided to baptize him in the tub. So, we gave a change of clothes. Pastor’s Dave wife (Mary) got the camera. We led him through a prayer, and then Dave, right in the bath tub, baptized him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – from death in sin to life in Jesus Christ!

Then we began the long ride home to drop him off in his home town in Thief River Falls. On the way, home he could not stop smiling. He was a changed man. He talked about the weight of what he did wrong in the past being lifted. Then with my phone he began calling his family and friends, and talking to them about his baptism, and what God had done for him. He was sharing his faith, literally within minutes of being baptized! He was a witness for Jesus Christ!

Now he is home. He has a bible. He is getting connected with a church, and keeping in contact with us. He is starting a new life and has vision. He wants become a counselor to help kids through the rough situations that he has been through. Soon he will get his baptism pictures, so that he can always remember and celebrate the day where we was reborn from death to life.

We were never expecting it! But, God had it planned. Now looking back at that day it makes me beg the question. Am I ready? Am I willing? Am I ready and willing for God’s interventions? Am I ready and willing for God to change my schedule? I was this time, but is there any point in my schedule where I am too busy and focused that I miss God’s plan and gifts? If so, that needs to change. I could have missed Erick, and he could still be in Fargo, and struggling with the weight of his sin. Thank God that did not happen!

Have you had any of these moments? If so, leave a comment and share your story. Would you encourage us with God’s unexpected surprise in your life?

How privileged we are to be the recipient of God’s surprises in our life?!

Fargo is on move!!!

2011-04-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Fargo is going great! It is finally warming up! We hit 50 degrees last week, which was a great change from the sub-zero temperatures that welcomed me into the city. Although this means that Fargo is having to deal with flood waters, but we are making it through, and sandbagging has been a great way to reach out to the community and meet new people. However, all the families in the Fargo/Moorhead area could definitely use your prayers.

Since I have been up here God has been doing so much to get us ready for the Fall. Right now we are currently working with 14 local churches, and that number is increasing each week as we meet and new people/churches, and we have been able to engage 6 smaller communities outside of the Fargo/Moorhead area to begin trainings, as well as to schedule more outreaches for our Fall campaign that will take place from September 19th-Oct 9th. God is opening up doors for us every day.

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing 50 high schools kids come out to get trained to start small groups/outreaches in their high school. Then the day after the training a group of kids started a group through Facebook and with in 24 hours they already had 60 members join their group. The fields truly are white for the harvest up here!

In addition, to all of those kids raising up small groups through out the community we have raised up, through a partnership with Children's Evangelism Fellowship, 86 small groups for children. But we still have much more work to go. We are estimating that to properly handle the amount of responses we get during the tour with nurturing follow-up and discipleship we will need around 200 small groups for all ages through out the Fargo-Moorhead area, and the surrounding communities.

In addition, to that God has been so faithful to provide financially for the tour. Of our $350,000 budget that we have the community God has already raised close to $200,000 in pledges. In fact last week we received a check for $10,000 from a local business man, and then this week in a church kick-off we had gentleman pledge $45,000 and he began that pledge with a $25,000 check. God is so faithful to provide for His children!

We have a lot of exciting things coming up in the next month that we would love for you to pray with us on. First, is we are having a series of banquets that will help launch new communities, as well as bring on new churches through out the area. We are having 3 banquets in 3 separate communities April 29th and 30th, as well as May 1st. In addition, to our banquets we are beginning what we call local link trainings, which is where we go into local churches and train the church on personal evangelism and follow-up. So far we already have 3 churches who have booked their trainings, and a few more who are looking for dates. It is so cool to see God rallying His troops behind what He is doing here in Fargo. The final thing that we could use your prayers on is engaging the schools. So far we have 2 high schools committed to allowing us to do evening time events, but we are hoping to have about 6 more, and we need to book assemblies in ALL the schools so that we can invite the kids out to the evening performances where we will preach the Gospel. The assemblies are so key! Please pray for favor and openness as we approach the school to book assemblies for next Fall!

Thank you so much for taking time to read what is going on here in Fargo. I am so excited to be a part of what God is doing here in Fargo, and it is so encouraging to see all the churches rally behind this one call to reach their community. It is a huge blessing!

How Much is Enough – the Joy of Giving

2011-04-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

God’s heart is always freedom. It is never slavery, stress, or depression. Sometimes I feel we mistake the burdens of the Lord for yoke’s of slavery. Burdens, while at times may be stressful, will always bring us peace, joy, and closeness with the Father. They will be rooted in love, promise, and hope. When we look at them we will see the Lord through and through, as well as the privilege of serving and caring for that burden. Burdens from God bring life and excitement!

However, yokes are an entirely different beast. You see yokes may feel like burdens from God, but they bring desperation and fear. They make us think, “How am I ever going to do that? There is no way! I am going to be a failure!” Or thought that are on similar lines. They make us question ourselves, and there is no hope in a yoke of slavery. There is no peace. It throws us into desperation, and traps us. These yokes then become full of guilt, shame, and fear, and they ultimately become walls between us and our Father. We begin to look at them, and we see disobedience, and we think we are unworthy to approach. This leads to separation for Dad and ultimately leads to death.

Yokes sometimes are unnecessary things that we put on our plates. However, they can also be godly burdens that we attempt to care for through our own means, instead of walking in the Spirit and provision of the Lord. So, instead of the burdens that God puts on our hearts breading joy, peace, and hope like the Lord intended, and instead of them giving us life like God designed them to they bring us death. Satan deceives us and makes us think they are just something else we have to do, and he makes them yokes. They are another thing on our already booked out to-do list, and we get overwhelmed. And this is because we fail to see that these burdens were designed by God for us to do with Him, and that they were not meant to be another task to busy our day. Or another thing we have to give our money to. Rather God meant for them to be something that we did and financed with and through our Him. They were always to build relationship between Dad and His kids.

The reality is that we are not alone. We are never called to do something by ourselves even if we are the only person around. God is always with us, stirring up His saints and angels along with Himself to come to our aid. His Spirit is always there so that we can walk in Him, and be lifted to heights we never thought possible. If we can remember that God is always there to talk to and provide a way I believe burdens will never become yokes, and we will never take on a yoke that we were not meant to. The reason being is that we will be in constant communication with God, and we will only do what He calls us to, and then He will intervene for whatever we need.

This truth, relationship with God, is where the joy of giving and serving lies. Without this relationship with Dad the question will always be, “How much is enough? How much do I need to give?” There will be this constant yoke of, “Am I giving enough? Am I serving enough?” And it will rob us of the joy God intended.

It is so faithful to know that God is faithful to speak and guide His kids. When we are talking with the Lord, and asking Him, “How much should I give or serve?” God is faithful to speak to us. He tells us exactly where and how much to give and serve, and we see life and blessing come from that obedience. He will even stretch us, and we will give in amounts and serve in ways that we never thought possible. We will begin to look for places to give and serve, because the joy of giving will infiltrate our heats as we see that God is faithful to provide everywhere He calls us to give and go.

Then with our eyes fixed on the Father we will stop asking, “How much is enough?” in fear that we will not be provided for. But in the security of our Fathers arms who is faithful to provide, and with us knowing that we are completely taken care of we will begin to ask, “Dad, can I give to them? Can I serve them? Please make a way. I so desperately want to help them” And the Father will delight to pour blessing into us, because he knows we will fulfill His original plan with Abraham. He will know that through blessing us we will bless the nations!

No, we do not give and serve; so that we can get more. That is not what I am saying. Rather, we give and serve because we know that we are secure in our Father’s arms, and there is no fear of lack. We freely give and serve, because we have been freely given too. We realize that there is life and joy in giving and serving, and so we give and serve because we have hope in something out of this world. Giving and serving were always meant to be rooted in hope and joy, and never in obligation and necessity, which leads to slavery. Rather as freed men and women we give our time, resources, and money to celebrate our freedom in the Lord! Giving is a celebration that is meant to be full of joy.

This is a lesson that the Lord has been teaching me, and it has been slow and hard, but it has been so good! In fact, I feel that I need to apologize and ask for forgiveness from some of you. In some of my letters I have unfairly put a yoke on you to help make a way for me to do what God has called me to. I unintentionally put some of you in slavery thinking if you did not give I would not be taken care of. You are giving because you think you need to in order for me to stay in the field. I want you to know that God is completely faithful to make a way for me, and He will provide. I want to encourage some of you that if you are giving out of necessity please stop giving to me. The only reason I want any of you to give is because you have heard a voice from the Lord saying I want you to invest in Matt and what he is doing. Investing in me should bring you life and joy. You should receive pleasure because you know you are allowing thousands of kids to come to the Lord with every campaign that we do. Giving should cause you to celebrate. It should be something you are doing with Dad!

I pray blessing beyond blessing for everyone who reads this letter. Through you God is going to bless the nations and the ends of the earth. For you are secure in the Father’s arms, and that hope has more power than anything on earth! Praise God ! Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Matt

The Liturgical Year - My First Book Review

2011-03-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys, so I found this sweet website for anyone who likes to read and write. It is called Booksneeze. All you have to do is have a blog, and then after you read a book write a small review about the book, and post in on your blog and a retailers website like Amazon or Barnes and Noble. So here is my first book review. The book is the Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister.

This book is not simply an exposition of the Liturgical year. It is far more than a simple teaching that tells us about each feast, fast, and season that make up the Liturgical year. This book is a book about the passion of Jesus Christ in our everyday lives. Joan Chittister’s words bring life to something that most people feel is dead and dry. Liturgy while it is rooted in tradition is much more than a set of days and practices that we do in order to fulfill tradition and religious piety.

Instead, Chittister shows that liturgy is a tool. It is a set of days and seasons that transform our minds, and cause us to continually enter into relationship with Jesus. It is a constant reminder of Jesus, so that we can daily tell Him how much we love, and are thankful to be in relationship with Him. It is a reminder and a call to the life He lived, so that we can learn how to live it as well. It teaches us how to live our natural lives, with the Spiritual world Christ has brought us into. She shows that the Liturgical calendar may be the greatest tool that any Christian can possess in the task of transforming their minds for Jesus and the Kingdom of God.

Her writing style is easy and simple to understand, but it is deep and life changing. Her words are definitely anointed by God to bring life to anyone who truly seeks to live purely and holy for Christ. I recommend this book for anyone who is curious and seeking guidance in the faith, but I would especially recommend it for anyone who is struggling and drowning in the stagnation of tradition and religiosity. If the words in this book are truly dealt with and chewed over it will bring life and excitement back into our many forgotten and overlooked traditions. And it will work to restore the true meaning that has been lost in so many of our religious holidays, especially Christmas and Easter.

It is a great tool to have in your library as we seek to make disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28: 19-20)! Praise God for Joan and her words!

Take the First Step

2011-03-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

Have you ever received a vision from God that was so big you were not sure where to start and what to do? The uncertainty of the vision just caused you to remain still, because you were not sure how to approach what the Lord was asking you to do. You wanted to see something, some sort of movement that would indicate to you that the Lord was indeed the voice that communicated to you this vision. You were looking for something that would give you certainty to move forward. You heard the call, but you wanted more.

I found my self in this exact situation the last few weeks. The Lord has without a doubt called me and my team to Fargo to bring revival. He has called us here to spur a movement in the church that will be long lasting, and will not only cause community transformation, but nationwide and global transformation. He has called us to a movement that we believe will redefine church for this generation, and that centers around discipleship. Fargo plays huge part in that movement!

The past few weeks I have been so mesmerized at this calling that I have been still and waiting, reluctant to taking any steps, because of how big the vision is. I wanted God to give me certainty that this was truly him before I really stepped out. I wanted some moment or some signal. In the midst of all of this God spoke a gentle word of encouragement and rebuke to me. He said, “Matt if Moses would have waited for the waters to separate before He started walking the seas would never have split. You just need to start walking and I will make a way. You can trust me. You are not alone. Be bold keep pushing forward, revival will come.”

I think this is the reality for many of us. We have heard the Lord, and despite all of the uncertainty we face we just need to take the first step, and let God show us His power and might!

As a ministry we have started to walk, and God is already starting to part the sea. So far we have close to 20 churches either on board with the movement or about to make a commitment to the movement God has called the Impact World Tour to spark here in Fargo. He has raised 1/3 of our budget in 2 months, $130,000. He has gifted us with an amazing venue in the middle of the city for practically nothing. Churches are mobilizing for training and preparing small groups for the events in the fall like we could never have imagined. He has been so faithful to provide and lead the movement He has called us to.

You are a huge part of what is happening out here in Fargo. It is your prayers and your financial support that have enabled me to be here. You have helped our ministry till the soil in Fargo, and your prayers and supplications have paid off. God has heard your prayers along with ours and has faithfully responded. Praise God for His faithfulness. I want to encourage you. If you are waiting for the waters to part just take the first step. The seas will split because God is completely faithful to provide for and guide us where He has called us to go. My life is a huge testament to that.

I pray that God would bless you richly, and would give you the faith to take the first step no matter what sea He is sea he is calling you to split.

Quick to Forgive

2011-02-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

God is so quick to forgive! I moved up to Fargo this past week, on Valentines Day actually. My first week in Fargo was amazing. I live with an amazing pastor and his wife. They are so hospitable and just fun to be around. The meetings I have been around have totally been set up by Jesus. People are eager and hungry to hear about God, and how we can partner together to help Jesus reach Fargo. I have already seen 2 churches come on and a small satellite city opened up. It just has been really dynamic.

I feel an expectation for something great to happen here in Fargo. God has something up His sleeve. I just feel it in my spirit. Something else in my spirit says it has to center on this big flood that is predicted for Fargo. All the news papers and government people say it is going to be big. In fact they are filling 3 million sandbags preparing for it. But to be honest, I do not think there is going to be a flood at all, which I know saying that comes at the stake of being weird and overly charismatic. I think God wants to mobilize His church to stand up and pray against it, and push back the flood gates. I think He wants to show Fargo He is indeed alive and the He loves them. But how do you share that with a city who has experienced a flood the past 4 years running? How do you share that to a city that you just walked into, and on top of that you are the young guy?

Honestly, I think that is only the beginning of the supernatural things that God wants to do up here in Fargo. I think He is mobilizing an army of young people/youth that will see people healed, that will dream dreams and have visions, and maybe even raise the dead if called to it. I think the reality talked about in the book of Joel is quickly approaching us. I think Fargo is about to see it first hand. How do you prepare for that? How do you voice that in a society that is so skeptical and censored (the Western world in general)?

Nonetheless this is what I feel God doing. I feel Him preparing us for something great, for something huge. It is going to take complete devotion and surrender to Him. It is going to take the faithful to truly lay own their lives from Him. I think I was called to lead out in this movement. I think IWT is a catalyst that is going to launch something bigger than what we could have ever dreamed. I get to be part of it.

My vision for Fargo is great. I want to mobilize youth groups. I want to serve the homeless and heal the sick. I want people to walk out of hospitals because the Son shined on them, and peopled were healed. I want to see the Church mobilized with all denominations, Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists praying together because we are one church seeking one strategy to reach the community we are in. I want resources to be freely given and freely taken for the sake of spreading the Kingdom to another neighborhood. And honestly I don't just want to do that, but I feel called to do it. I feel called to be an idealist that makes the ideal reality. And at times it all sounds crazy to even me.

But I am excited and I am happy. God has put me in the perfect place to do it, with the perfect ministry, and the perfect mentors. I am working with churches, in charge of brining in new ones and expanding our family to all denominations, and opening up new cities. That really excites me. I love working with Christ's bride. It is so rewarding, and I get to run the prayer committee, which is near to my heart and so important. God has just set me up!

By now you are asking what does this all have to do with forgiveness. This is just Matt being an idealist and going on a rant. Well this weekend I lost all of that. I sinned. Satan attacked me, and I gave in and fell. I lacked discipline, and I paid for it. After I sinned I was filled with so much guilt and shame I thought I was unqualified and ruined. I thought I would never win, and I look at my vision and saw it was too lofty, because I was dirty and not good enough.

As I usually do I quickly went to God and asked for forgiveness, and nothing changed. Guilt and shame was still lingering over me. I knew I was forgiven, but I didn't feel it. I still felt dirty and unclean. Then I told my leader and friend, James. I confessed to him my sin, and immediately I felt God begin to clean me off and heal me. Then James told me something that is so crucial for us to understand. He said, "You are forgiven. Jesus does not even remember what you did. There is no probation period to forgiveness. He has completely forgiven you and moved on, and you need to do the same thing" (maybe not exact, but it is close).

The minute I heard that something changed in my heart. God reinstated me. It was like He gave me the power to forgive myself. He told me all that He had for me never changed because I messed up. He assured me I was growing, and said He was so proud of me. He actually told me I was too hard on myself. Most of all He told me that He loved me and that would never change, and that He is always quick to forgive and reinstate us.

He forgave me. He healed me. He cleansed me. He reinstated me. And now the sky is the limit. And He is quick to forgive, so that all may join in. No one is exempt. God forgiveness is limitless, complete, and immediate. There is no one He want forgive. That is the God I serve and love to talk about. Now, I cannot wait to see what He is about to do!

Finally Moving Up to Fargo!

2011-02-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time coming. Many of you heard that I was moving up to Fargo almost a month ago. But the day is finally here. I will be moving up to Fargo Monday, and will be living up there at least until October when the campaign goes through the Fargo area, which we have termed the Red River Valley with the local people.

So, why the delay? Why has it taken me a little over a month to finally move up to Fargo? The reason is that the Lord wanted to teach me something. He actually wanted to teach me a lot of things. He wanted to destroy the pride in my heart, so that I could receive His love. He wanted to destroy the pride in my heart, so that I could actually help people. He wanted to destroy the pride in my heart, so that I could see that I have nothing, but in that confession He would give me everything. He wanted me to receive the Kingdom that I had been denying by trying to maintain a prideful image of myself that was never true, and was in all reality killing me and granting me death.

For the past month the Lord has been drawing me into His presence and encountering me like never before. In fact, at the beginning of this journey He asked me to set aside 2 hours a day, so He could spend more time with me. It was the best decision I ever made, and surprisingly it was easy for the most part. I mean there were days it was hard to go to the prayer room and sit, but once I got there it was always amazing. God was so faithful to meet me and talk to me. He indwelt in me so that it was easy to stay in His presence for hours on hours. It had nothing to do with me being awesome and disciplined because the reality is that I am not. In fact, one of my biggest worries in going up to Fargo is whether or not I will be able to engage with the Lord in this same way, because it is so crucial to the Christian life.

It was in these times that God had spoken with me, and was dealing with the lies and the pain that was inside that I felt for the first time that I really had something to offer that could change the world. The Lord gave me amazing vision for Fargo and for the Impact World Tour, and even for the world in general. He communicated to me amazing truths about His heart for me and His kingdom. It was truly a dynamic one that is worth sharing, but there is so much to share. He took me up to His throne room and put me in His presence where every disease, worry, and affliction is removed and replaced with love, mercy, and grace.

For the first time I realized this this was not metaphorical. It is real. You can literally go to a place where all of your pain and hurts are wiped away. You do not have stop living to go there. Heaven is not some place that we cannot experience in the here and now. All that we have to do is stop denying God's love. We just give up our preconceived notions of what life is. We stop trying to live and ask God what to do, and then gently He wraps His arms around us and He lifts us up to Heaven and He heals us and gives us peace. He makes things right. This is what every Christian has to offer to the world. The path or way to God and His throne. We cannot offer some great sermon or awesome prayer. Those mean nothing in and of them self, but we know the way to the Father. It is the way that was given to us through and by Jesus and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is all that we have to offer, and this is why it has taken me a month to get to Fargo. It was the way home that Jesus was teaching me this last month. It was what He had to show me before I could go to Fargo.

Now I know the way, and now I am going to Fargo. I am a little nervous because I feel like I have a lack of vision and direction, even though God has given me more the enough. I am just not use to living with so simple instructions that seem kind of vague. I usually have more direction, more tasks. So this is all a little weird to me. It is a new way of life living with no need to strive and do things. My only job is to go to the throne every day to hang out with Jesus, and when I am able bring people with me, which is awesome.

I am nervous also because I feel a little empty, like my tire that has been made flat. I was on a mountain top Wednesday, and now I am little down, feeling a little lost and overwhelmed. But God has assured me I know the way, and the way has much to offer. Even though it seems vague. It is very powerful. Through us just simply loving God and loving God with people God shows up and miracles and supernatural things happen, because God is just so good. It is a simple lesson, but one that took me a little long to learn.

So, Monday, I am heading up to Fargo and I am stoked. I have nothing to offer and that is awesome, because now I can just love Jesus and there is no stress to perform attached. Through loving Jesus He will lead me to people and to places, and He will pour out and show me awesome things about who He is, and in that people will get saved, people will be healed, and a city will be changed. That is exciting, and I get to be a part of it just by simply loving Jesus, nothing more and nothing less. Great things are sure to happen.

In fact, He is already doing great things in Fargo. Last weekend was amazing. We had our launch weekend in Fargo. In our discipleship seminar we were able to begin training 70 leaders who will begin to work on opening neighborhood network centers across the region in conjunction with the local church. Praise God. We also saw God raise a little over $90,000 for the campaign, which means we have already raised 1/3 of our budget. And last weekend we are able to book our first venue at the Scheels Arena in Fargo. God is opening up so many doors to help bring transformation in Fargo. It is awesome to watch. It is almost like Fargo is a gift to me and the ministry. God just wants to show me what He can do, and it is 100% worthy of praise. We definitely serve an awesome God!

I would really appreciate your prayers for the move up there. Also, want to ask that you would pray for the team as we begin to encounter High Schools to schedule outreaches as well as other local churches to partner with them. Pray that we would walk in the grace and favor of the Lord. The last thing I want to ask that you would pray for is that God would continue to bless me with a fervency and desperation for prayer and His word, as we seek to build my inner man together. He is truly doing awesome things in me each day. Again, thank you all for your prayers and support! You all are a huge part of everything God is doing!

____________________________________________________________________

One last thing I want to share with you. God has blown my mind this week with this one verse. Look up Isaiah 54:10. After you read it. Research the phrase about throwing the mountains into the sea, and why it is so widely used in the Bible. Then reread that verse. God will rock your world. At least He did mine. His love is so good! Let me know what He tells you. I am really curious to hear what you all hear through this verse. God bless!

Launching Fargo

2011-01-27T11:10:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody,

I wanted to take this time to update you on how the tour is going in Fargo. For those of you who have no idea about what I am talking about, I work/volunteer with a ministry called the Impact World Tour (IWT) as a coordinator, organizing city outreaches and discipleship networks. The heart of IWT is to partner with local leadership across the country and the world to help mobilize and awaken the body of Christ to prayer, evangelism, and discipleship to reach this emerging generation. You can also visit www.ywamcampaigns.org to get more info on who we are, or you can just ask me and we can have a great conversation!

The tour up in Fargo however is doing very well. We, with the locals, have decided to call the tour, Impact Red River Vally, so that it applies to the whole region we are trying to reach. Right now we are forming/finalizing our local executive committee that will provide local leadership to the region. In addition, to that we should have our office found and set up in Fargo within the next few weeks. These are huge answers to prayer, and a testimony of God's faithfulness to provide!

Next weekend will be a pivotal weekend in launching the tour in the Red River Valley. On Friday and Saturday (February 4th and 5th), we will be holding our first training/seminar in the area for discipleship that will give the community an introductory look on starting Neighborhood Network Centers through out Fargo in schools, restaurants, coffee shops, homes, etc. This training will then be followed with other trainings sessions provided by us, as well as trainings offered by local youth leaders and Children's Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). We are excited with where God is leading us. He is really calling us to focus on starting these Neighborhood Network Centers to help form a Discipleship Network that will reach out to the community in the neighborhoods. This seminar is the first step in that process.

In addition, to the Discipleship Seminar on Friday and Saturday, we will be having a major dessert banquet on Saturday night, February 5th. The banquet will help us further spread the vision of the Discipleship Networks and IWT to Red River Valley. Currently we have 40 people RSVP'd with still 20 more table hosts waiting to send in their lists. So, we are praying and believing for around 150-200 people to show up. In addition to vision casting, the banquet will be a major push to help us raise the budget needed to have the tour in the Fall. This is a major part of us launching the tour in Fargo.

On Sunday (February 6th) we will have our first Church Kick-Offs up in Fargo. So far we have 3 churches scheduled. CKO's are a major part of spreading the vision and mobilizing the region. Our main goal in a CKO is to awaken the church to the urgency and need for evangelism and discipleship. Especially since it is reported that only 2% of Christians are regularly sharing their faith, and only 4% of this emerging generation are attending church/actively seeking Jesus. It is in these presentations that we help come alongside the local church and encourage them to work with us as we seek God to spur revival in the community. We will ask the church to participate in 3 ways pray, give, and serve. First we encourage them to begin praying for God to reach their community, as well as specific family members and friend that they want to share the gospel with. Then we lead them to seek the Lord to see if they are called to invest financially into this vision, and to give only what they hear from Jesus to give, nothing more and nothing less. The key is obedience, not how much is given. Then we end by asking each believer to volunteer with us and become a part of organizing outreaches in the local high schools and developing a discipleship network that will disciple and reach out the region.

Needless to say we are very busy and excited as we approach this weekend. It will definitely set the tone for this upcoming year in Fargo, and so far it is looking very promising. It would be awesome if you could join us in prayer as we are praying for the local church in Fargo and the surrounding communities. Please pray for the banquet and seminar that they would be well attended and effective in communicating the vision and message that Christ has for the area, and pray for protection and wisdom for all of those are involved in organizing and putting on these exciting events.

God bless,

Matt

P.S. Please join me in prayer as I am seeking the Lord for provision. A major struggle that I am facing right now is finances. The Lord has communicated to me that I am in the right place and to be patient, but I am slowly falling behind on my bills, specifically my student loans. Right now this really is my biggest block to ministry and staying with IWT and spreading the gospel, so I am praying for breakthrough and following God as He directs me. He is more than faithful to provide, but would love some prayer partners!

True Worthiness - The Love of God

2011-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought that you were completely unworthy? As a result there was this constant pressure to strive and achieve just so that you could feel important. After awhile you actually thought you were important. You thought you were smart and worthy. Inside part of you actually believed you could do it on your own. Your pride had grown out of control from this one thought; you are not worthy.

You thought the response to this idea was to strive to obtain your worthiness; in fact this is what you were taught and had drilled into you from all those around you. You never thought that seeking God for His vision of you could possibly be the answer. You never imagined that the answer could be admitting your unworthiness to God, so that He would fill you and make you worthy. Then once you learned this truth you didn’t know how to let that truth in and become reality. You couldn’t accept the truth that your worth comes from simply being a child of the most-high God. All that you could hear and believe was that you are not worthy. You must strive to be better, and earn your way; earn your acceptance.

This lie caused you to live in fear. What if I mess up? What if I do not do this right? Am I praying enough? Am I reading enough? Am I righteousness enough for the plans that God has for me? Etc. Every word and message that you heard from God was then filtered through these questions of fear. You never felt truly accepted no matter how many times people told you that you were. You always worried about not doing enough or doing something wrong that would eventually chase those people away from your life. This made repentance and confession hard, which made getting prayers from your brothers and sisters rather difficult, which then blocked the healing and cleansing promised in Scripture that you so desperately desired to be true in your life (James 5:16, 1 John 1:9).

Now with all of this fear and guilt just piling on to you it was impossible to clearly hear and take in the words of God. All you wanted was a word of God to come to you, to comfort you, and to guide you. You heard His words come from sermons and songs. You even heard His gentle whisper as you took time in silence to seek Him, but nothing availed. Every word was swarmed with questions and doubts. This is too good to be true. I only heard that because that is what I want. This could not be God that will never work. This doesn’t line up with His character; as you sought to defend how this couldn’t be true when it probably was, but you were just so scared of being wrong and messing up, and constantly wondering how this would make people think of you. You had to defend and protect the prideful image of yourself that had been created in your mind.

With all of this fear and insecurity you did not know what to believe. All of a sudden ideas and visions from God that you have based your life on started to come into question. Is this all reality or just a pleasant fantasy to hide the pain? Nothing made sense, and you were lost as you tried to protect the prideful obsession of being good and worthy. Your life literally began to fall apart.

Well, as you probably already know, since this is my blog, this is my story. This is where I found myself 2 weeks ago. Pride has infected every area of my life manifested in this one lie, I am not worthy. As a result, I have not been able to make decisions in my ministry because what if they are wrong. Financially, I am a mess because I live off support, but I cannot ask for support because I am unworthy. So, I am in a nest of debt and despair, and feeling completely unworthy to ask for help to get out, instead feeling I should just get a job and leave my calling to make money, because there is just so much uncertainty. And the list just goes on, as it has affected my relationships, my family, and my God, or how I truly view Him.

However, something happened 2 weeks ago. As I prayed with a friend, Joel McGill, God broke in, and He showed me the lie, and He showed me the truth. I am completely unworthy on my own, but I am not on my own anymore. Right now, as I type this, I am worthy, and it has nothing to do with what I have done or will do, but everything to do with God saying I am worthy and speaking that worth into existence. I can do nothing, but in that admittance I can do everything as God does it through me. I cannot come up with a plan to get me out of debt, but God can give me one. I do not have the courage and faith to listen and obey His words, but God will empower me to obedience. I am completely prideful and arrogant and nothing I do will make me humble, but telling God I am hopeless in my pride and need Him will lead Him to respond. He will break through and give me humility, and He will teach and enable me to live empty, so He can fill and radiate through me to do the things I could never do. In fact, I have learned this is what Christianity is all about, God living and loving in us.

So, I have begun a journey to truly learn that it is ok to be weak and broken. I am learning how to live that out, and not just make it head knowledge and lip service. That really does nothing other than causing you to live in hopelessness and despair as you realize you will never measure up, but vainly trying to make the mark anyway. Learning to live this way is so hard. I feel like I am dying every day, as my pride is being peeled off. I feel like God is calling me to things I could never do, and I am just scared. I do not know how to live like this. How do I live without tasks orienting my life, and giving me things to achieve and strive for? I mean that is what has made my days since I can remember. With all of this questioning of what and how God has been repeating to me 3 words every day. “Just love me!” Stop striving and just love me!

In fact, it is the new rule, without striving and legalism, and it is producing something great inside of this prideful person in desperate need of Christ. Nothing else matters. It does not matter how many people you heal or save, or how much scripture you read and memorize. What matters is did you love God? Did I say I love you to Jesus yet? Does the Holy Spirit know that I cannot live without talking to Him, because that is how much I love Him? Does the Father know that I love Him more than all things I ask of/from Him? I do not want to complete my tasks without loving Jesus and knowing He loves me. I want to complete them as a result of that love. I have learned that everything God has asked me to do is only so that I can learn more about Him, and experience more of His love. The task does matter as much as the time spent with God while doing the task. The reason for the journey is Jesus. The task just gives us something extra to do along the way.

Please pray for me as I have a long way to go in this journey of humility and complete reliance on Jesus. I know that I am in desperate need of your prayers. I cannot do this on my own. I have been trying for too long on my own with no results, and God’s promises are stronger than that. The prayers of my brothers and sisters in the faith are powerful and effective. Your prayers are powerful and effective. So please, pray for freedom in the realm of purity, but everywhere. Pray that I would rest in the beauty of God, and the beauty that He sees me in. Pray that I would have the strength and power to continue on the path God is laying, but ultimately pray that I would stop striving, so that God can work out His plan in my life.

I love you, and my prayer is that God’s grace would have already encountered you as you started reading this blog. I pray that with the first word you read you began to feel His tangible presence in your life. May freedom, power, and love reign in your life through the power of Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. God bless and Amen!

Where I am

2011-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

I never realized how hard it is to write about myself, but for the sake of keeping people up to date and involved here I go. As I reflect on where I am right now there really is only one thing that I am certain of, and that is the vision God has given me. It is the vision that I have given my life to, and it is what guides my path. I guess you could say I am a slave to this vision, but I would not have it any other way, because while it may control me it also gives me life beyond my wildest dream. Unfortunately, it is a dream and vision that I have rarely articulated and let people know about.

The vision has two main parts, but focuses on one main goal. That one goal is simple. It is to complete the Great Commission, so that every tribe, tongue, and nation may be discipled with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The first part of this vision has to do with a database that is being formed with a group of people. Essentially, the database will link every Christian with a place for them to be able to serve God’s kingdom in their calling and passion. I believe that right now many people are given great visions by God, but have no idea how to get to where God has called them. My vision is that this database would bridge the gap linking people into their God given destiny through multiple steps and interfaces. Ultimately, it is through this database that I believe God will be able to launch a 2^nd Student Volunteer Movement, and if you do not know what that is I would encourage you to google, the Student Volunteer Movement to read about the first one. I believe the database is integral in mobilizing the church to where God desires each individual to be. There is a lot more to do that database, and how that will all unfold but that is a broad stroke of what it is.

In addition, to this global vision with the database, which was not done incredible justice with the paragraph above, God has given me some specific vision overseas. I believe God has called me to be part of a major evangelistic push in the country of Germany that will consume the entire country with the Gospel. As the Gospel begins to take root and bring transformation in Germany it will then launch itself into the rest of Europe. As this grows I believe it will provide the Kingdom with a mission force that will not only be able to mobilize Africa, but will provide the African continent with the infrastructure it has been waiting for. With that infrastructure in place Africa will have the ability to finally launch in mass number its people into the world. I believe that Africa really is a sleeping giant waiting to explode for the Gospel, and I feel God has called me to be a part of it.

In many ways this is my life right now. This huge vision consumes my thoughts and my prayers. It is all I think about. It is often very overwhelming, and I constantly wonder how something so big could ever be achieved. But then I am reminded and remember that it is not my vision. It is God’s and I just need to be patient for Him to act and to tell me to move.

So, why I am in IWT and focused in America. There a couple of reasons actually. First, is that I believe that IWT could have a big part in evangelizing Germany, but only time will tell. It certainly is not in the vision of IWT currently, but it is my dream and vision that one day it will be. Maybe when I actually talk to them about it. Also, IWT is a place of maturity for me. I am surrounded by amazing people who are providing amazing mentorships. God is pruning me. He is developing my character as a man of God, and teaching me how to mobilize and direct His kingdom, which is His calling on my life. Right now God is teaching me a lot of that practicals in that calling.

However, everything is not roses. There are a lot of things that constantly are on my heart. The first is, I constantly wonder if this all is just a fantasy. With how big the vision is I constantly question whether this is me or God, but when I look at the depth and gravity of the vision I realize there is no way someone like me could have come up with this. And then God brings me to a passage in Isaiah to encourage me, Isaiah 49: 1-7, and I realize that I don’t even see all of the vision. Despite how big this vision seems it is still smaller for all that God has for me.

Besides for questioning, I also miss my family a great deal. I hear a lot of their struggles, and wish I could be home. I wish I could be there to help. It is hard not to think that if I was home I could help them. Many of them don’t know Jesus, and not being home makes that reality even harder, because I feel so helpless in sharing with them the beauty of Jesus. My heart weighs for them, and I know that all I can do is put them in God’s hands, which is the best place for them to be. I know God will show Himself to them. I just need to be patient and persistent in prayer and obedient as He leads me to do whatever He is calling me to. Despite the feeling of helplessness I am very hopeful. I know one day they will fall love with Jesus, and He will take away their pain and tears. I cannot wait for that day!

Then there are my finances. Despite constant reminder not to worry, I do. I have almost $50,000 in student debt as interest continues to build on them. I am living on barely $500 a month, but somehow I always get by. God is always faithful. I will need to soon start paying on all my student loans, and those alone will take $700 a month. I figure that I will need to raise soon at least $2000 a month to get out of debt. I wonder where all the money is going to come from. I wonder what I can do in order to make it, and I wonder if I am doing enough. I feel like I need to be more confident in support raising, but with the economy the way it is I feel so ashamed to ask people for their money. Even though I know I am where God wants me it is still hard to be confident and ask. It is a very daunting giant in my life to say the least. In all of this I know God will be faithful. I know He will provide, but sometimes it weighs on my heart, and in those times I need to learn to rest in the character of God.

The last really big struggle is loneliness. I have the best roommates and an awesome family in ministry. But there are still times I long for someone to share it all with. They are not often, but they are there. I know that one day it will happen, and it is these times of loneliness that I see why God said it is not good for man to be alone. However, I also know that I have a lot of growing to do before that can happen. While at times this is horrible it has been really been an amazing time of God showing me that He is sufficient for me, and it is in these times I have learned How awesome it is to have God as my Dad and best friend. And it is these times I hear God clearer than ever and feel His arms embrace me with is warmth.

So, this is where I am right now. I am really excited for what is ahead. The tour in Fargo and Northern Minnesota is really exciting. I am not sure what God is doing yet, but I have an intense expectancy for Him to show up. I feel this season will be really hard, but in that I will learn and grow a lot, and see His Kingdom really advance. Once I get back I will be working to organize a banquet and discipleship seminar that will help spread IWT’s vision for the tour and begin to mobilize the local community and get their input into that vision, which is really exciting for me. The local church is really stepping up, so it should all go well, but I would love your prayers as we lead up to those two events.

Also, right now I am praying into the possibility of taking online classes to continue my education and get my masters degree. I feel a strong draw to seminary again. However, those prayers just began, and I have not received any real clear direction, but really like the possibility. If I did the classes would be online and modular, so that I could stay in the mission field, which I know is where I need to be.

In addition, to that me and the guys are praying into a short term trip to Germany to meet people and just pray into our vision and calling to evangelize the country to get God’s wisdom and guidance.

So, there is a lot going on. But it is so good, and I am so blessed for the life God leads me in. I would not trade it for anything in the world, despite all the questions and ups and downs. It is what I have always hoped for an adventure, a life worth living. It is never boring and always keeps me on my toes, which lets me see God’s power day in and day out.

Well I hope that gives you a look into my heart and life, and would love to talk to you all about any part of that. I am an open book, and want to share my story and life with anyone willing to take part. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope at some level it encourages you and/or spurs you on in your walk with Christ. God bless!

Matt

A "Radical" New Year

2011-01-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

We have made it to another year. What will happen this year? How different will we be at the beginning of next year compared to right now? How will we change? How are we going to advance the Kingdom? There are so many questions that run through my mind as I approach this New Year. They are not nagging questions, but ones that make me think, and definitely lead me into prayer. There are so many options and paths to take.

As I look at this New Year I have been brought into it with a really good message. Last week I had the privilege to read a book called “Radical” by David Platt, since I have had time in Iowa to relax with my roommates. I am not sure the effect the book will have on my life, but I think the words in the book are revolutional. I do not mean revolutional in the means that they are new, and are breaking new ground, because actually the words in the book are thousands of years old, because they are really Jesus’ words. They are revolutional because if they are actually taken to heart then things will change, and that is what I am trying to do. I am trying to change. I want to become more like Jesus. I want the sin in my life to decrease, and my devotion to God and His kingdom to increase, and I think the book leads me in that direction.

Simply stated the book challenges all Christians in America to rise above the American dream, which in many cases is keeping us from the beauty of Christianity, which I know is a powerful and controversial statement. For so many the American dream has been what we were taught to live and strive for, so when we say that we are to break free from it well for many of us that is to give up life as we know it, because that is what our life has been, striving for the American dream. It is centered on us and our work ethic. It is about how much we can acquire, the statuses we can achieve, and getting what we want if we work hard enough.

The problem is that centers on us, and even when we bring God into this picture He only becomes a means to an end rather than the end itself. What really becomes god is the American dream, and thus an idol. You see the beauty of Christianity is that we aren’t suppose to do it on our own with our own strength and effort. We are suppose to strive by the power of God, and we are not suppose to strive for some illusive prize. We are suppose to strive for Him. He is the end. The end is not some picture of the perfect life that will rust and be eaten by the moths.

Now the beauty in all of this is that God wants us to make it to Him, so instead of us just working to get to the prize our Prize is also working to get to us. In fact, the Prize has done most of the work, because that is how much He wants us to get to Him. That is the beauty of Christianity. This is what makes the American dream so antithetical to God’s plan. The American dream is soaked in humanism, and puts all the pressure on us, but God’s plan is soaked in Him, and He is more than able to handle the weight. He then gives Himself to us as a gift, and all we have to do is receive. However, to receive Him we have to give the American dream up, and stop striving.

This is hard for two reasons. The first reason is that we have to give up our own life for the sake of receiving God. Whatever we pictured as the American dream we have to say is not as good as getting God, and then let it go because of God’s insurmountable worth. For some that literally means giving up an entire lifetime and considering it lost. Now, that takes a lot of humility and at times repentance. It is hard to say that all that I have been striving for, for so long is worthless because it is not the life that God wants for me.

This is why the words of Jesus to the rich, young ruler are so relevant to us today. God is calling us to a completely different life style that is not about how much we can store up, but about how much we can receive and pour out. It is a huge shift, and for many that is a radical lifestyle. It is radical for generosity and a servant attitude to take over, but that is the fruit and evidence of living in the Kingdom. It is what Jesus’ love motivates us to do, because our only desire becomes to serve and exemplify Him here on earth. This is why we must be freed from the American dream, because it literally is the exact opposite of the life Jesus has designed for us, and empower us to do. We are meant to give and glorify him, but inherently the American dream calls us to acquire and glorify ourselves, but God’s vision for our lives is much bigger than our selves. Praise God!

The other reason that it is hard is that it takes complete faith or trust in a society that makes it hard to trust in anything. And we are living in a system that is all about what you can do, not someone else.

However, Jesus says, “All you need to do is have faith in me and love me. I have made the way for you, and I am preparing a room for you. All you need to do is receive. I will give you all that you need if ask in My name. This is not about you. It is about me and my power. It is about what I can do, and what I can do through you. All you need to do is trust in me and follow me and what I tell you. I will do the heavy lifting.”

Most people just cannot accept this. It sound foolish and/or to good to be true, and it is just scary to lose control in a world that puts all the pressure on you. But when we know our God it makes complete sense, and when we know His love, it casts out all fear. It just takes faith and relationship, and this is where the power of God lies. His power lies in a relationship that gives you the trust and ability to stop striving and to put anything in His hands. This takes away the burdens. It makes the yoke easy, and finally grants us peace. However, it is a shift in paradigm and mindset, which can be tough. It will cause us to kill our pride, and that can hurt. However, if we commit to this it is beautiful, and more than worth the price. It is like a field with a treasure that when you walk upon it you sell everything to by the land and obtain the treasure, because it far surpasses anything you have had up to that point.

This is where I hope my 2011 takes me. I hope this year I break completely free from the American dream into something greater. I want to live in the beauty of Christianity. I want to strive for God, and have Him strive for me, and then we can gloriously run into each other arms embraced in an intimate love relationship. I want to once and for all take the weight of the world off of my shoulders, so that God can be God again, and I can do what He created me for. I pray that this relationship will spur me to do things I have only dreamed before. I want to live in radical abandonment to my own self. I want to give away more than I could imagine. I want to sacrifice for the sake of others. I want to lose my life, my dream, so that I can gain God, and then He can resurrect it in glory and power. This year I want it to be clear which kingdom I serve. No more sitting on the fence. I want to be diligent for God, and completely diligent in seeking Him in everything I do and face. This is the path I am choosing, and will need help and your prayers to stay on, so please join me in being “radical.”

I want to end by thanking David Platt for his book, and taking the time to write it. I know the words he wrote will truly be revolutional in my life, and that God will produce great fruit from them.

Also, thank you God. I love you Dad. Thank You for sending Jesus to bring me to You. May my 2011 glorify You and advance Your Kingdom. Sorry, for when I have fallen short, but thank You for forgiveness and the power to learn and grow from those mistakes that You have already forgotten. You are my Dad, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, my Creator and I could not be happier. Serving and following in love with You was the best decision I have made and the greatest gift I could receive. All praise to You Dad!

For all who read this blog, God bless you! And I pray that you will be empowered to live a “radical” 2011. The world needs it. In fact, it is desperate for it, but then so are you, because it is the life God has destined for you, and it is the best life you could imagine. Therefore, settle for nothing less. You won’t be disappointed. I ask for grace and peace for you, beyond what you could dream and comprehend. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Also, I feel I have not really talked much about myself, my heart, or my dreams, which I feel defeats the purpose of what this blog is suppose to do, which is keep you informed on how and what I am doing. So, I want to give you a better like into all of that. My next blog will hopefully give you a better picture of where I am at, and what I am dreaming and visioning of. I am trying to think of a good way to put all that into one blog, but it will be posted later this week. I love you guys, and thank you for your prayers and support. They literally keep me going, as I purse Christ and His kingdom!

A Season of Expectancy and Purity

2010-12-19T14:33:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had one of those seasons where every turn you make your heart jumps with expectation. You are not really sure what to expect, but you are sure you are suppose to expect something. It may be good, or it may be bad, but it feels good. However, all you know is that something is about to happen, and you need to brace yourself for whatever it is, because whatever it is going change everything. Once whatever that is going to happen, actually happens, you will never be the same. So, you wait in an eager expectation for whatever it is, longing for what is to come.

Well that is the season that I am in. I am certain whatever happens will be good, and not bad. However, that does not mean that it will not be hard. In fact, whatever is going to happen I am almost certain will be hard. I figure there will be a little of pain involved and even some confusion. But that is why it is awesome that God is my Guide and Comforter, because I know He will get me through. He will make straight paths, and if there are tears he will catch them and count them, and will guard my heart beyond all understanding, because that is type of God He is.

Like I said, I cannot exactly put my finger on what is going to take place. I know going to Fargo/Minnesota has a huge part to do with it, and that it will bring purity and righteousness into my life. This transformation that God is going to bring will take away a lot of the muck and mire that is my currently blocking my vision, and will bring a new found intimacy with God and deeper vision into His Kingdom. Basically, my heart will become more in tune with what God is saying. I will become more aligned with His will. In fact, in one prayer session I was told this season will prepare me to make decisions for His kingdom on a moments notice knowing the decision I make is God's decision, because I will be so intimate with God that His will, will be my only desire. Now, that folks is a pretty exciting to hear, and also somewhat intimidating.

I look at my life now with all of the struggles and sin, and wonder, "How can it be? How could my life ever look like that? Why would God ever look to me to make those decisions?" And all I hear God saying is that, “It will be, because that is who He made me to be. It is His gift to me, and that I just need to rest in Him, and in due time all things will come.”

Some of you are probably in the same situation. God has called you to something, and you feel completely inadequate, or you just feel generally inadequate and unworthy. And just like God is whispering words of encouragement and empowerment to me. He is doing the same for you. He is saying to you, "You are my son/daughter. These dreams are what I have made you for. They are my gift to you. I have made you worthy, and you do not have to keep striving. Rest in me. There is something coming. Be expectant. Long for the change I am bringing. Contend for the change. It may hurt a little, but it is good. It will prepare you for what is to come. No matter what keep going because I am with you. I am going to change the world with you, because I love you." I love it when Dad tells me those things.

The good thing is that God's plans for us are beyond our belief. I am just starting to see mine. I see that God has called me to unite His Kingdom, and to network it together. I am supposed to be a force that mobilizes a movement of missions into the world. He has called me to help serve of a movement of evangelism in Germany, and ultimately to provide infrastructure that will launch a mighty movement of outreach in and from Africa to the world. Hearing that blows my mind, and even makes me seem like a crazy idealist that does not have one ounce of realism. But that is only the beginning of God's plan for me. It is a taste of what is to come. The fraction he has allowed me to see. I know there is more, and there is more for you, and it may be even bigger. In fact, my prayer is that it is, because that would be awesome. God has such plans for us. We need to be expectant. We would be foolish not to.

Now the coolest thing about all of this is that our sin does not disqualify us from our vision. These dreams and desires that we have to save/change the world are God's gift to us, and He will do whatever He can to make sure that we unwrap them. Sin may keep them from us, but that is more of our choice than God's. The sin causes us to question our selves, and puts chains on us. It makes us tired and groggy. We begin to question God, His character, and His desire for our lives. We start to see Him as the culprit for all of the evil things in our life. Then we throw away the dreams He has given us, as rubbish and foolish, and move to a more practical and powerless lifestyle that matches our worthiness.

This to a certain extent has described my life. Not to the extent that I completely threw away God or His vision for my life, but to the point that I thought I was not worthy and would never attain His dream for me. It stole His peace from me as I sat up at night thinking I had lost it because I sinned. I had lied again, or I had looked at the horrible stuff one more time. For sure this time God has scaled back His dreams for me, and walked away. His promises cannot be valid anymore. I have lost them.

Meanwhile God was saying to me, "Matt my visions and dreams for you are still true. I still am going to give them to you. In fact, not only will I give them to you, but I will set your free from the lies, from the insecurity that causes them. I will set you free from the lust and the porn, and I will strip you of the loneliness and lack of self-worth that thrusts you to sin. I then will make you a force against these things, and will give you authority to bring healing into these areas. All you have to do is come back to me. I have already forgiven you. Please, forgive yourself."

I realized He was pleading for me to repent and forgive myself. He was so eager to make me forget because He already had. He showed me His vision for me, and told me to expect all of the things He showed me because they were coming, and they are only going to be a taste of what is to come. He led me to humility and repentance, and through that He is stripped all of the shame, fear, and guilt that sin had used to rob me of God's vision and peace for my life. He led me back to Himself, and this week at the office was a huge part of that.

Wednesday, we had an intense time of prayer for each other. At the very end I got prayed for. I asked them to pray for healing for me because us of all the crap I had looked at. We listened to God for strategy and wisdom on how to pray, and God gave us some awesome words, and then we prayed following His instructions. One of things He told me was to be expectant that today everything would change. I went into prayer expecting, which for me is hard. I was looking for fireworks, for an overcoming experience with the Lord. It did not come. At least not like I thought it would for anyone there it was just seemed normal, but when we were done something was different. I was lighter, and my Spirit was changed. I still cannot explain it, but I had my vision back, and I was free. I am free. That is what the Kingdom does. It offers freedom for all of those who will humble themselves and ask for it. When we let the Kingdom in. We let Heaven in, and it makes ALL things right.

Going through this process is why I have seemed very distracted and preoccupied lately. I have been fighting a war in my mind. God has been speaking amazing promises and visions into my life that are completely life giving, and I have thrown chains over myself making them impossible. I have focused on my sin and the circumstances around me, and thereby allowed the shame, fear, and guilt associated with them to bolt me down. Leading me to consistently questioned God's vision and words to me. It made me a real party pooper.

Praise God, something has shifted in the Heavenlies, because of people’s prayers and God’s faithfulness. Now I am in a season of purity and expectation. I have been freed to truly dream and vision with an expectant that is free of disqualification. God is cleaning out the trash, and that hurts every now and then, but is so exciting to be clean. It gives me confidence and new found authority in Him. Fargo is going to be awesome, and I cannot wait. God has dreams for me, and He has dreams for you. We are not disqualified. We are His chosen ones! Things are going to change!

My First Northern Exposure and a Flat Tire

2010-12-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

This week began my ministry up in Northern Minnesota and Fargo. I spent the week traveling with Mike, another coordinator in IWT, and Marty, the National Director of IWT, across the northern part of Minnesota. We picked up Marty from the Minneapolis airport, and then went to Duluth, and worked our away from Duluth across the state of Minnesota to the Fargo/Moorhead area. It was an awesome week of meetings.

The purpose of our trip was to start having some of the initial conversations in communities across the state about getting ready for the tour towards the Fall of 2011 and the Spring of 2012. In Duluth, we were able to meet with some key youth leaders and the director of Youth for Christ (YFC), as well as a very respected church leader. The conversations were very fruitful, and there seems to be a lot of excitement growing in the area for the tour and the discipleship process we hope to form. We also had a meeting just outside of Duluth in a small town called Cloquet, which had a similar tone to the meeting, and we even saw an open door into the indian reservation in town, which is really exciting.

After our meetings in Duluth we drove to the Hibbing/Grand Rapids area, which is known by some as the Iron Range of Minnesota. We had two meetings, one in Hibbing and one in Grand Rapids. Both meetings saw a lot of growth as the communities began to engage with each other about discipleship and prayer. The coolest thing about the meetings had to be how God communicated to us before hand in prayer exactly what happened in the meeting. In one of the meetings it seemed we were going a little of course. Normally that would have been a little disconcerting, but it was communicated to us through our team back in Kansas City that this would happen, and that we were not to be worried, but instead go to prayer with the leaders of the community. That is exactly what we did, and through the prayer God brought us back on course and broke through. It is cool to see how when you leave things to God how He is always faithful to come through in the end.

The final stop was in Fargo, which is the city/area that is moving the fastest out of the entire region. I got to meet the local steering for the first time on Friday, and it was so encouraging to be in the meeting. The people in Fargo have such a dedicated heart to Jesus and the Kingdom. To see how the Lord has grabbed them and is moving them along is awesome, and they have such a dedicated heart to discipleship, prayer, and the power of God, which are some major themes that God has been speaking to us as a team, which is another display of God's faithfulness. He has called us as a ministry to focus on prayer, discipleship, and to go in His power, and now has brought us to a communicty that has such a heart for all three of those areas. That is so awesome!

After all of our meetings we drove back to Minneapolis to drop Marty off at the airport, and then Mike and I high tailed back to Kansas City to miss the huge storm that went through the area, and we made it just in time. Now we are back in Kansas City, and working on some preliminary projects until Mike and I move up to Fargo on the 18th of January to be the ground forces so to speak for the ministry. Until then we are working on getting a Discipleship Seminar organized, a banquet put together, the local exec board assembled, getting more churches aware and partnering with the tour, trying to find venues for the events, as well as finding housing and an office for Mike and I. So, we have a decent amount of work to do.

With all of this I am super excited to start working up there. I feel that through out the week God gave me a lot of vision for the area, as well as a sense of expenctancy and excitement for what He is about to do up there. One point the ministry has really been working on is forming nets of discipleship to catch all of those who come to faith at the events. God has really spoken to us about building a lasting structure for the communities to work with once we are gone, and we believe those nets will take the shape of what we call neighborhood networks, in which we empower all of the believers to turn there households into outreach centers for their neighborhood. In essence, every Christian's home will become a hub in that neighborhood for prayer, bible study/discipleship, outreach, and nurturing. Our hope is that we can begin to unite the Christians in every neighborhood regardless of chuch and denominational lines to begin to unite together to pray for strategy and wisdom in how to reach their neighborhoods for the Kingdom. The vision is what is exciting most of the area, so we are excited to see this vision take root and really flourish, because we believe this is what will produce lasting fruit

As a result, God has talked ot me a lot about discipleship and training the local church, which speaks right to my teachers heart. I love teaching and discipling, so I am pumped for that. Although, this has had a strong focus on targeting the youth and young adults of the area, and training them to form these centers in their high schools and campuses. I would love to see a revival among this younger generation, and from the sounds of it God has something up His sleeve to do just that in Northern Minnesota, and I cannot wait to see what is and be a part of it.

After all of that excitement I came home yesterday and just crashed, which was good. I just relaxed and spent some time with God, that was until my room mate and friend Cassi wanted to get a movie, so we went out to get one. On our way to the Red Box I over looked a curb and busted out my tire, which we changed out for the spare in the middle of blistering cold winds. However, the moral of the story is now I need a new tire, and I am looking for the finances to do that. If you could help with the repair of my new tire you can donate below by clicking on the button and giving into my paypal account. It would be extremely appreciate and is needed.

I just want to thank you all for supporting me through your finances, thoughts, and prayers. Everything I do is because of you guys, and I am so thankful to have such a good group of friends and family who allow me and go with me to do the work that God has called me to. I am praying for you and love you. If there is anything I can specifically pray for please let me know! God bless!

Also if you want to partner in prayer here are a few prayer points.

1.) First, is that God would release the funds needed to get out of debt from my colleges loans, which are a huge hindrance to my ministry right now.

2.) Strategy and wisdom for the leaders in Minnesota/Fargo who are beginning to prepare their churches and the community for the tour in the fall of next year

3.) Safety and protection for all of the IWT who are traveling through out the holidays

4.) Strategy and wisdom for IWT staff as we seek to make some adjustments in the ministry to make prayer and discipleship a stronger focus in the ministry.

5.) Revelation for all of the staff into the Kingdom and love of Christ, which is our motivation for everything.

My First Week in Kansas City

2010-12-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

This week has been so good! I really do not know where to start with all that has happened. The moral of the story is that God showed up.

This week was an amazing time for IWT, Impact World Tour. With most of the ministry back in Kansas City we had the entire week to seek the Lord together, and hear what He had for us, and it was dynamic. God gave us a lot of vision and direction for this next season. He is entering us into a rebuilding season, where we are going to start rebuilding on the foundation of IWT. There are a few things that He is really highlighting for us as a ministry. The first, is that we would have a lifestyle of prayer in everything that we do. As a ministry, we want to become so dependent on God that we cannot even have a meeting until we have prayed into and have received the Lord's direction. We need to become more pro-active through the leading of God then reactive. So, this next season will be a time where we simply seek the face of God, and everything that happens will be an outflow of falling in love with Jesus, and that is exciting to think about.

In addition, to developing this lifestyle of prayer and intimacy with the Lord we feel that God is calling IWT to develop more lasting foundations into the cities that we are going into. As a result, we are trying to form the ministry in a way that we can partner with the church in every community and build something that will be lasting, and can be used by the church in the foundations they are building. We want to help every community become a hub for missions. In which churches and even individual people's homes become training centers that train followers of Christ to reach those who are not in the Kingdom of God both in their own community and communities around the world. It is such an exciting vision to be given, and each day God reveals more to us of how this will happen.

The cool thing is that God is developing this lifestyle in all of us individually/corporately, so that we can not only spread the vision, but by His love become an effective model to all of those we seek to partner and work with. It is really cool! He is building IWT into a powerful missional community, that not only loves others, but that deeply loves each other as close knit family. It such a privilege and honor to be part of this ministry, in this season.

In addition, to all that God is doing with the ministry. He is just wrecking my heart for Him, and it is so good! Each day I find myself being drawn closer and closer to Him. My quiet times with Him have been awesome. He has been speaking to me with so much clarity about this next season of my life. But the best part has been Him just telling me how He sees me, and when the King of Kings tells you how He sees you it is the most humbling and uplifting thing ever. I am His glorious Son, and He has taken me into deep parts of His kingdom and wants to take me even deeper. When He looks at me He smiles as He sees passion and desire for Him and His Kingdom. And ther was so much more! When, I heard God talk to me like that I was in tears, but it gave me so much healing and confidence. It has embolden me to be His messenger and servant. It is so good!

As I continue to have my identity as a Son of God illuminated He is opening more and more of His Kingdom to me and allowing me to reach more people. This is the message that people need to hear. They can become a child of God. In fact, that is what they were created for, to be children of the most High God, and then it was stolen from them. Their identity was high jacked, and they were told they were of this world and worthless. God is screaming for them to be His kids again, and they are screaming to have a Father. This is the message that I am taking to Minnesota. Your Father is waiting for you. No more fear. No more shame. No more guilt. You are not fatherless. Your Father is waiting with His arms wide open to protect you and to restore you. Let me take you to your Father, to our Father. He has so much to tell you!

I am so pumped for what God has in store for Minnesota, and it all starts tomorrow. Tomorrow I am driving up to Minnesota with, Mike Stanley, and picking up Marty from the airport in Minneapolis, and then we will have a bunch of meetings through out the week to get ready for the Fall Tour in Northerwestern Minnesota and Fargo where we will help tell Minnesota about their Father. So that we can guide them back to Dad, and then Dad can tell them how beautiful they are to Him, so He can take away their fear, guilt, and shame, because perfect love casts out all fear.

My prayer is that you all would join with me in this journey, and pray for our travels and favor with all of those that we meet, and clarity to hear the direction of God in all that we do. Also, join me in spreading this message. If you do not know how Dad sees you as His child ask Him. He will blow you away, and heal your soul. And if you know someone who is hurting tell them about their Dad and take them to Him, so that Dad can heal them and whisper His love into their ears. All we have to do is ask Him. He has been desperately waiting for us to ask. So ask you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

I love you guys, and I pray a rich blessing of provision and love from the Father for He is good and loves to lavish on His children, and you are His child!

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There is one more thing I want to ask you guys to help with. Over the last few weeks God has really been talking to me about my debt that I incurred in college. Currently, it is at $48,000 and growing because 3 of my loans are in forebearance and as a result getting bigger. I want to ask for your help. I need vision and strategy to start paying on these loans, and right now I have none, and I am living off about $300 of committed monthly support, but because God is always faithful that is always supplemented with random gifts that give me enough to cover my monthly expenses, such as gas, car payment, my Compassion Kid, insurance, and 1 of my student loans (I have 4). He has shown me that I need to start paying on all 4 at the beginning of next year.

So, the first thing I would ask for you to pray and seek God with me so we can find his strategy and plan to develop a budget to pay these off. I also want to ask you all to pray and see if He is asking you to help with this through financial support, whether that is monthly or a one time gift. Then write whatever you hear from the Lord as a comment to this blog, and we can go from there!

Right now my loans are a huge barrier and burden to the ministry God has called me to. The good things is that God is bigger than them, and He wants me free, so He will show me the way to freedom, and I just need to be obedient and follow my Dad. Thank you for your help in finding the way!

If you have any questions or would like to support me give me a call, 330-754-7878, or email me at matthew_woods31987@yahoo.com.

Love you guys!

Matt

Two Stick Figures

2010-11-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

Who knew that two stick figures could mean so much. Yesterday, I was visitng a communtiy called Love Canton, which is just a group of people who are madly in love with Jesus, and want to do whatever they can to spread that love to others. At this celebration meeting, Jason, one of the leaders drew two stick figures, and they meant the world, actually they meant more than what the world could ever mean.

What I am about to relay to you. Jason relayed to all of us from a training with 3DM ministries. He drew two stick figures on a white board. In fact, right now, grab a pen and something to write on. Then draw one small stick figure. Then in the left hand of that stick figure draw a little ball. Next draw a much bigger stick figure who is holding on to the right hand of the small stick figure, and then in the right hand of the bigger stick figure draw a sword, and then I want you to circle both hands of the larger stick figure, and just look at the picture and meditate on it for a few seconds, maybe even a few minutes. Just ask God to illuminate to you the truth contained in that picture.

Now here is the truth. You are the small stick figure, the little kid, and the big stick figure is God the Father, or just Dad. Now notice that Dad, Father God, the King of the universe, and Creator of everything is holding your hand, because you are his child, and He never let's go. However, He is not just holding your hand, but He is also holding a sword. He is not holding a sword to punish you, but He is holding a sword because there is an enemy against you whom God will use that sword, so they can never hurt you. Your Dad, who is always holding your hand, will stop at nothing to protect you, and get you where you need to be. Nothing can stand in your way.

This here is the foundational, and probably the most transformational truth in all of Christianity, that is if you allow this truth to take foundation in your heart. This truth, that you are the son/daughter of God, is what allowed Jesus to do what He did, and will allow us to do what we are called to do, and with out this we will most certainly fall and burn out. We need to let God give us revelation into the meaning and power of this statement. I believe this so much so that I do not want to spend more time illuminating it for you. Go talk to Dad. Ask Him to reveal the importance in this truth to you. Ask Him, to reveal the power in this statement. Search the scriptures, see how Jesus was motivated by the knowledge that God was His Dad and was holding a sword. See what it allowed him to do. And look in the only recorded tempation of Christ, see what Satan really attacks. "If you are really the Son of God..." There is so much here for us to learn!

Our place as God's beloved kids is so priceless. The power of this simple statement allows me to trust God completely with my shaky finances, and go into missions, where I am not getting paid, but am living off support, because I know I am holding His hand, and He will protect me at all costs. This statement is what has propelled me to pray for people and see healing. In just the last week I have seen a girl's torn miniscus and ACL healed because she began to understand that God is her Dad, that truth sank into her heart, and she asked for healing and believed it would happen and it did. And it motivated a father to pray for his son who was losing his sight, so that it could be regained, and it was. Now his son can read on his own. No thick glasses. No magnifying glass. Just God. God is our Dad and he wants nothing but the best for us, and will stop and nothing to make sure the best is what we get, even though sometimes we may stop, He never does.

You want to know where the power of the kingdom is, it is here in this simple truth, that has more meaning than we could ever know.

I am so thankful for such an awesome Dad. At the end, of this week, Dad and I will be going hand in hand to Kansas City to reunite with everyone in IWT, and I cannot wait, I miss them all like crazy. I am super excited to get back to work, and see more people grab Dad's hand. So, please pray for travel mercies and the finances to make my way out there and to get settled in.

I just want to end by telling everyone how faithful Dad is. For the last year I have been praying for a new computer to work on, and God just told me He was working on it and to wait. I came home in desperate need of one, so that I could better communicate with everyone, and I was looking anywhere to try and get one. With in a week of being home and talking to my home church they were able to raise the money and buy a brand new laptop for me. Dad, new I needed one, and He motivated his people to provide for me. He is so good! If we will just rest in His arms He will provide the desires of our heart. I love you guys, and I hope this truth will rock you like it has rocked me.

God bless you guys!!!

Going Home

2010-11-13T05:52:00.000-08:00

I have been in Cincinnati for close to 5 months, and today I am leaving to go home for about 2 weeks. Then I will head out to Kansas City, to start this new season in life that I am transitioning into. On one hand I am super excited. God has spoken a lot to me about this new season. It will be a season of trial and purification, which at first was intimidating, until He informed me that this will develop a deep intimacy and connection with Him. I will learn to trust, hear, and depend on Him like never before, and this will unlock things in the Kingdom that I can only have dreamed of before. So, when you say it like that, it is really exciting. He has also said this will be a season where I learn to rest and dwell in Him, which seems very paradoxical when it is paired with the other, but maybe that is how you know it is from Him.

This reminds me a lot of Paul and his life. Paul was imprisoned, but full of peace and was able to rest and worship in the presence of God. He was being chased, harassed, people were rioting to stone and kill him, but through this all He learned to trust and rest in God. No trial was big enough from keeping him from having peace and rest in God. I feel this next season will help take me closer to that place, which is super exciting.

However, like any transition, it also is a little nerve wrecking. I have to leave all of the awesome people and relationships that I have made in the last 5 months here, and God has blessed me with meeting some awesome. First and foremost, is my host family which I am going to miss a lot, but at least we got to have an awesome last breakfast together, omelets, pancakes, sausage gravy, buscuits, fruit, and breakfast potatoes. It was awesome. And there are just a lot of uncertainties that lie ahead, but that is what makes life fun and exciting, but at the same time you wonder where certain things will come from. Such as where am I going to live? How am I going to afford that? But the cool thing is that because I know I am right where the Lord wants I do not have to worry about those things. Yes, they are question, but I know they are being taken of, and that God will provide, because He is awesome like that.

So, I am off to Canton. Cannot wait to see my friends and family. It is going to be an awesome two weeks, and then I will be making my way out to Kansas City.

There are a few things that I would love for you to pray for. First, is that God would open up some doors for IWT in the Cleveland/Akron area. I have a few meetings with some key people, and I am hoping God really speaks to them, and gives us the opportunity to spread his Gospel back home. Also, pray for guidance and wisdom for me as I try and reach out to some of my family members who are going through some rough times. We really need God's wisdom and peace. Finally, please pray that I would rest, and spend some quality time being refreshed with Dad, while getting some more vision for what lies ahead.

Love you guys! If there is anything I can being pray for let me know!

The New Horizons

2010-11-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

The blind folds have been taken off! There is something different about my life, and the way I am living it. Before, I was so concerned about the things of this world, marriage, finances, etc. I mean they dominated my mind, no matter how hard I tried to get free, so I could focus on Christ, and Christ alone, I was unable.

Then recently something happened. I met these amazing people, and the Lord just radiated off of them. His love for them, and their love for Him, was tangible. It was like I could touch and feel it. God was showing me what He was trying to create in me that type of contagious and tangible love. Then all of a sudden that love in some unexplainable way was transferred into my life. God had definitely planted the seeds for this transformation in my life in the preceding weeks, but when I met them I saw the picture of what I was to become in my own way, and by seeing the picture God made me into that picture. I do not believe the process is over or finished. I still have a long way to go, but a major has definitely taken place in my life.

It was not anything radical in the natural sense. The fireworks did not go off, but everything radically changed, my vision and my motivations became radically different. My spirit had been awakened. I watched everything else fall in comparison to the Kingdom. The Kingdom must advance, and we must take it to those who don't know, so they can take part, so they can feel Love. There is nothing else is nothing else that matters. This our ultimate and primary purpose. Everything else is an extra. A gracious addition from our Father to bless us. That is unless it becomes a block to spreading the Kingdom and knowing Love, and then it is an idol that we must rid ourselves of.

Like I said I do not know what happened that day. I just walked into a room with amazing people following God. They talked to me and listened to my story, and then something just happened. God happened I guess. I am not even quite sure how to explain the change that happened in my body, soul, and spirit, besides my vision and motivations have been altered towards Him. I am sure this shift is more radical and powerful than I can put it to words, and God has just begun to illuminate the shift He caused in my life. What I do know is that I have been made alive, and I do not think there could have been a better time then now.

Why now? Well, my life is changing. I am moving cities, going to new horizons. Leaving Cincinnati and going to Kansas City. Opening a new tour in Minnesota. My life is just moving, but it is more than just moving, it is beginning to pick up speed. Dreams and visions that God has given me are starting to come to fruition. God is beginning to awaken the sleeping giant that is within me! My spirit is starting to pour out and transform those around me, like those peoples spirits poured out and transformed me.

In the past two weeks God has taken me to places and used/allowed me to see people lives engaged by His presence. I have seen a mom watch God heal her two 3 year old twins. I have seen a man receive healing in his back, which awakened him to his call to ministry, which He thought He was not good enough for, and then his entire family lined up for prayers for healing, and they were ALL HEALED. A single mom was given a passion for Jesus and was led back to her church and ultimately to the love of Christ. He has awakened my spirit and it is impossible for me to contain. None of this is because I am good. It is because I asked God to use me to change the world and He was gracious enough to grant my request!

Not to mention in these last few weeks He has led me to key people for my life. My next journal entries will fill in the blanks to this one, but He has given me contacts to Germany. Why Germany, aren't you going to Minnesota next? Yes, I am, but Germany is to come, and these are opening the way for after Minnesota. I will explain more next week. He has led me to people who want me to help create this networking database. Again, what database? It was one that I believe will have power to change to world because of the people it will connect, but again I will explain more in the coming weeks. There is just too much for me to write in this one entry.

The moral of the story. God is good, and He is changing me and wants to change you. He is encountering me and granting me intimacy with Him, and He wants to encounter you. He has given me stories and He wants to give you stories. He wants to take off your blind folds like He has taken off mine. He wants to show you the Kingdom like never before, but you must be ready for life to be like never before, because there is no going back, but it is awesome that is how it is!

I love you guys. Please pray for me in this next month of transition which is full of potential. I am closing up Cincinnati with the rest of the team. We just closed our office this past Tuesday. Then I will be traveling home to spend time with family, spread the vision of IWT back home, and try and gain partners and financial support, so I can continue with my work. Then I will head to Kansas City at the end of the month, to reunite with all of the IWT staff out there, and my boys/best friends, Ian and Andrew, who I miss very much. They are my brothers. After that it looks like Minnesota, just in time for the snow, to open a new tour which I am pumped about, for a variety of reasons that I will share with you more later. In addition, to all of that there are side projects that God has me working on, and they are growing by leaps and bounds that I cannot wait to share with you as God brings them into fruition.

I pray blessing and grace over all of you, and that God's provision and love would be abundant in your life! God bless!

Restarting

2010-10-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody,

For those of you who have tried to keep up with my blog, in order to keep up with me I need to apologize. I am sorry! I have been horrible at writing in here, and giving you all updates on what I am doing, and how God has been working in my life. However, I am going to restart my blog, and my plan is to update every other Friday. So, this should be the first entry of many to follow. Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and prayers. I pray that God would bless you beyond your dreams, and that His presence would be so unmistakable in your life, and that He would lavish you with His love, for He is our prize and our true Joy.

I do not even know where to start! Other than God is and has been both good and amazing. He got me through my first campaign with the Impact World Tour alive and well. It was such a privilege to get to work on the tour, but it was also full of challenges and obstacles, which is to be expected when you are winning souls for the Kingdom, and invading enemy territory. During the tour I got to meet and work with some amazing people, with amazing stories, and amazing hearts, who just love Jesus and cannot wait to see His Kingdom on earth. And I got to see awesome things, like a 15 year old Muslim boy accepting Jesus and renouncing Islam, a family of 7 brothers and sisters ALL accepting Jesus together for the 1st time, and a pastor completely amazed at how participating in the tour had completely changed and revitalized His church. These stories alone made all the work and challenges completely worth it.

I also had the honor of seeing approximately 1,800 people come to Jesus in just 4 weeks, and with both tours this year Cincinnati has seen 4,200 people come to Christ. What an awesome blessing and privilege it is to be part of something so dynamic. In addition, we saw entire churches and communities transformed. The testimonies are endless on what God has done. The harvest was smaller than past tours, but I think the transformation that has taken place in the churches and community is beyond what we can see and believe. The multiplication that will come from what happened here in the last month will be awesome to watch and hear.

In addition, to the tour and all that has gone on, God has just been doing an awesome work in my life. He has shown me what it means to be truly desperate for Him, and it is something that I am still working to achieve. I see how entangled in the world my heart still is, and every day he untangles me and is giving me more and more freedom to just love on Him. It is so sweet!

Also through this whole journey of learning desperation, He awakened my Spirit, and it is so amazing to live in the Spirit. At times it seems so foolish to live in a world that cannot be quantified or felt with your senses, but then there are the times when the Spiritual realm breaks through, and in those times you think, "How could I live any other way?" The closeness and intimacy that I have and that God is nurturing in me is beyond words. I feel his presence and sense His leading more and more every day, and He has opened me up to my destiny, and I am finally starting to see how big it is, and how unworthy I am to be called to such a task. But the great part is that because He has called me I am totally worthy because of Him. Praise God!

So, what is next? Well, for the next few weeks I will remain in Cincinnati helping to close up the office, doing debrief and follow up meetings with churches and pastors, as well working on raising personal finances as I get ready to move to Kansas City. After that I will return home for a few weeks, to visit family, work some more on my finances, as well as talking to people about the Impact World Tour in Canton. Then come December I will move out to Kansas City to work at the national office, and then help with the tour that will take place next Fall in Northern Minnesota, as well as parts in Wisconsin and North Dakota. Our three main hub cities will be Fargo, ND, Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI. I am really stoked about what God will hold in this new season.

Thanks again for everyone's prayers and encouragement. I want to leave you guys with a few prayer points:

1.) For the pastors and churches of Cincinnati as they begin to follow up all who responded to Christ at the events, as well as guidance and revelation as they seek how to keep the movement going that was started by the tour.

2.) Revelation and guidance for me as I seek God on how to awaken my spirit to His, so that it can control my life, and not my body, thoughts, and emotions. As well as revelation as it pertains to my specific calling of starting another major movement of missions. (more to come on this part).

3.) Pray for my brother as he is going through a really rough time. Pray that God would guide him and reveal His love and presence to Him as Justin is walking through this rough season.

4.) Protection and God's continually felt presence as the team makes the transition from Cincinnati to Kansas City.

Love you guys!

Matt

The Coming of the King

2010-04-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

This has been a very common theme of discussion this week. This was the first week of my training that will prepare me to serve with a Call2All (http://www.call2all.org/) and/or the Impact World Tour, IWT (http://www.ywamcampaigns.com/). One of the reasons why this topic has been so prevalent is that many in a Call2All if not everyone earnestly believe that this generation will see the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20), which is simply that every nation will have not only heard the Gospel message, but will be in a process of discipleship. A command that was given to us over 2000 years ago by our Lord and Savior. The second reason, why we have been talking a lot about this this week, is that we have spent a lot of time in close relationship with the International House of Prayer (IHOP) that is based in Kansas City, which has a close partnership with a Call2All and IWT. According to many IHOP leaders we live in an exciting time in which we see key events coming about that could mark the end of this era in our generation.
One of the main passages of scripture that has brought this topic of conversation up in our classes has been Matthew 24:14, in which, we read that the gospel will be preached in all nations as a testimony to the world, a testimony of God's sovereignty and power, and then the end will come. The return of Christ will be underway. This act of Christ coming back for His bride, has been a prayer on the tongues of Christians for literally millennia, since the ascension of Christ to Heaven, before Pentecost and the release of His Spirit. It was something the early disciples thought was only going to be a matter of years, definitely not millennia, and I assume it could have been, but we have kept Him waiting by failing to fulfill his Great Commission, which was something in His infinite wisdom and foresight He saw coming, and it may even be more than that. I think it may also be His will because of His mercy and desire to see all His people reunited with Him and not separated for eternity.
Many Christians have prayed this prayer, but are we ready. Is the world ready for the return of its King? Is the church ready for the return of its King? We pray for verse 14 because it is happy and triumphant, the fulfilling of the Great Commission, Christ returning to earth, what good, bible-totting Christian would not want that, but I think we rush and skip through verses 9-11. Are we ready to be tried with tribulation? Will we remain faithful unto death? Are we ready to die for our King, and stop just talking about it? Or will we be one of the many who fall away? Will you stand up against and remain firm as the false prophets continue to rise? And what will you do when the love of your closest loved ones grows cold because you carry and refuse the drop the banner of Jesus Christ? Is the world ready for this? Is the church ready for this? Are taking the steps needed to prepare for the return of our King?
I do not say this to be a debbie downer, and to take away the excitement and put a somber note on Christ returning, because Christt's return is ruly an exciting thing to talk about, and it makes me smile from cheek-to-cheek when I do. I cannot wait for Christ to return, and He is going to return and no one can stop that, and because of the inevitability of His return, maybe we should begin to not just pray to usher in His return but pray for strength to withstand the fiery darts of the enemy, so that when they come our faith remains preserved and we can rejoice as the Son comes once again. The battle is only going to get more fierce. Satan is only going to get more desperate, which will lead him to be more overt in his attempts to destroy us and rips from our Creator and Maker, and the one thing I do not want is for us to be standing there like a deer in the head lights wondering why this is happening when we knew it was coming. Many will fall away because they are not ready, they will have remained stuck in the novelty of Christ coming with out accepting the reality that it is going to be a battle. Let that not be you and I, and lets suit up in the armor of God, and get ready to fight, so that we can protect and preserve God's bride for his return!

Update

2009-12-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,

This week went really well, and it was our last week of formal teaching, which is crazy to think that I have been at DTS that long that our quarter here is almost over, and that I will be leaving for Colombia in only 13 days. This week our teaching was on Kingdom Culture, and what is means to live in it, and we were taught by a guy named Scott Smith who founded YWAM Arctic Mission, which is based in Homer, Alaska.

His teaching was really dynamic, and the Holy Spirit really used him to touch all of our lives this week. His lectures were really empowering and challenging. He kept showing us and reminding us of the power that God exhibits through people time after time, and how when we live in Kingdom Culture we have that dominion authority as well, to do amazing things, including radical miracles. As a student, body we noticed that God for about a month, or so, has been continually reminding us of this power and authority that we have in Him through our different speakers. So, we decided we did not just want to hear about this anymore, but we wanted to experience it.

Thursday morning during our first lecture a strange sense of spiritual warfare began to fall on the student body, and the night before a friend of mine, named Joel, during our prayer time received a vision of someone walking through the forest, and then all of a sudden was attacked by a lion, which makes reference to 1 Peter 5:8. So, we brought this up to our speaker, Scott, and we immediately went to God received instruction from Him, and then followed Ephesians 6 to put on our spiritual armor, and entered into spiritual warfare.

The crazy thing was is that we did not have to put up a huge fight against the enemy, but what happened was amazing. There was a 15-20 minute time of repentance that took place where we all just cleared out our baggage to one another, uniting the team. As a united team we circled, danced, and sang worship songs attacking the enemy. And then we came together and chanted like William Wallace in Braveheart. It was crazy and had some one walked in and not known who we were they would have thought we were nuts. But what ensued as a crazy release in our hearts, and an amazing since freedom in people's lives. The enemy was defeated, and for the first time since we had really heard about this power, we experienced our authority to fight Satan and his evil spirits and win! It was awesome!

We ended the week through a time of exhortation, which is one of Scott's main spiritual gifts, and he got a word for everyone that he gave to them. What he told me was really interesting. The vision he got of me, was me standing on a Roman ship with all of the rowers, and I was beating/calling out the cadence that was making the rowers row in sync. God told him that this was my job for the Kingdom. He said that God was making me into a man that will give rhythm to his Kingdom, so that his kingdom continues to push into the world. However, Scott warned me and said that for me to do this properly I need to work on grace and love, so that I do not push people to hard. That I need to be gracious to them, and relate to them, and then they will row for me with joy, instead of obligation, and that my main cadence needs to be the resurrection, and the power that comes from it.

To be honest, I am not sure what to think of this, or even all that it means for me. I have been praying into it, and I definitely feel it was from God, just not exactly sure how to pursue it. Everytime I think of this vision I get a peace and serenity that can only come from God, so I am doing my best to take it day-by-day, and to just let God me lead in this task.

Tonights the Love Feast, where all the schools come together for a big celebration, before some of them graduate next week. I actually get to go and start cooking for it in about an hour, and I am really looking forward to that. And then next week we have directors week, and then we are officially on outreach even though we don't leave until Christmas.

I have been praying fervently for all of you; praying that God would show up in your lives in mighty ways, and that he would rock the world of First Baptist. I love you all so much, and thank you all for all that you do for me! If there are any more specific prayer requests that I can pray for please email them to me.

Here are a few prayer requests for me:

+Thanksgiving for God's provision for outreach. He is a great God!
+Preparation for me and my team to Colombia that God would give us visions and direction for what He wants to happen there.
+Prayer for you all as I go to Colombia that God would give you all strength and a peace of mind
+Direction in God's timing for after DTS - There are a few options
-Going straight over to Africa to begin my work over there - Schools start April 25th in Mombasa, Kenya
- Going home and working for undisclosed amount of time
- Traveling around the states speaking to churches, and mobilizing people for God's movement of missions into the world.
- Coming back to Denver for a Phase II to develop more leadership skills and character development
- Going on a back packing tour around Europe doing more ministry and outreach, while spreading our vision with a team of about 10-12 people, and then doing a secondary school (Phase II or School of Ministry Development) in either Denver of Kona, Hawaii.
+That I would be open and willing to all of God's direction
+Against the fear of man in my life.

I love you all and God Bless!

Matt

But we are not a people who shrink back, and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
- Hebrews 10:39

Thank you/Support Letter

2009-11-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all so much for all that you have done for me, and for getting me where I am. God has completely changed my life at DTS, and has given me so much, which I hope to be able to share with you. I wanted to write this letter to simply thank all of you. I wish I could have sent out personal letters to all of you through the mail, but I have not had access to a printer that could print out my letters, and I have been really low on funds to be able to pay for the posting, but I hope to do all of that when I go home for Thanksgiving to visit.

I wish this could just be a thank you letter because you all have already given me so
much to me, which makes me feel horrible for asking for more, but I do not know what else to do. On November 2, 2009 my first outreach payment was due here at YWAM for $1,250. My church account did not have all the money, but we were seeing a steady flow of money coming in, so we wrote the check in full. However, after we wrote the check money stopped coming in all to-gether, and now my account stands at $-170 overdrawn. Furthermore, in order for me to continue DTS, go on outreach, and graduate I need to raise the last part of the payment, which is $1,200. So, I need to raise an additional 1,400 for out-reach and to balance out my account.

With all of that said, the situation seems horrible, but in reality I know it is taken care of. God has made more than clear to me that I am His son, and because of that He provides, because He is a God that provides for his children. We have privilege in His family. So, I know that the money is going to come in as long as I am faithful to do my part, and “pray the price.” There is power in God’s family and power in prayer, and even as I type this out with a $1,400 deficit staring me in the face God is telling me that He will not just provide, but provide in abundance, and that He is releasing even more than $1,400 even as I sit here. God is so good!

My hope and prayer is that you would join me in praying, so that together as a family we would seek God for this provision, because I want everything that I do on outreach to be a blessing to you. I want you all to take part in this amaz-ing mission that He is sending me on. I want to take you with me. With great humility, I want to ask you to pray with me, and also that you would seek God, and see if He is leading you to help provide further financial support. Anything that you are led to give would be a huge blessing!

I want to take some time to say a short prayer for you: Dear Lord, I want to lift up everyone who reads this letter, and ask that you would bless them and guide them beyond their wildest dreams. I pray that you would release an abun-dance to them and that you would give them grace and peace that can only be found in you. I also ask that if there is any-thing in their heart that is causing pain and stress that you would come in, and with your presence help restore and heal whatever it is. I thank you for this family that you have given me, and pray that my journey would be used to bless their life in You. In Jesus name I pray Amen!
Your Brother In Christ,

Matthew Woods

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…”
Ephesians 1: 15-17

Contact Info:YWAM Denver
Young People’s DTS - Matt Woods
12750 West 63rd Ave.
Arvada, CO 80004

cell: 330-754-7878
matthew-s-woods.blogspot.com

matthew_woods31987@yahoo.com

www.ywamdenver.org

The 4th Major Mission Movement has Begun!

2009-10-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I am somewhat hesitant writing this and telling you about what I am about to tell you. I am hesitant partly because what I am about to tell you is so fresh, having happened in the last 24 hours, and partly because part me of thinks it is too good to be true. However, with this hesitation I am met with great faith, because I do not believe that this message could be kept in, or that this movement that I am going to tell you about could be stopped. The reason I believe this is because I am confident that this movement has not been started by the zeal of men, but by the zeal of God who I know can accomplish all things, especially this task (Isaiah 37:32).

As you most of you know God has really been moving in my life the past few months, and really rearranging everything. This journey has led me to Discipleship Training School (DTS) out in Denver, Colorado, where I am continuing to seek my calling from God on my life. I have been in the DTS for 4 weeks now, and every week God has been moving and doing great and amazing things, however it was this past week that I believe will be pivotal in not only my own life, but for history.

This past week my DTS took part in what is known as the Go! Conference in Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The Go! Conference is designed to do pretty much what it sounds like, to get people to go and serve. This year there were around 200 or so YWAMers present at the conference, and when you have that many people earnestly seeking and following Jesus Christ, something amazing is bound to happen, and it did!

On Thursday night one of the most annointed men that I have ever heard speak, taught at our last major session of the conference. His message was not unexpected. Everyone knew he was going to issue the call to go, but I do not think we realized how powerful that call would be. Fred challenged us, asking, pleading, that we would be the generation that rises and seeks God so hard that we would fulfill the Great Commission by making sure every unreached people group would receive the life giving gospel of Jesus Christ, which is not all that new. Until he told us that he believes that we can do it, and hopes that we will.
He then went on and told us about places of strategic missions in the world, and showed us key spots where missionaries need to be, in order to prevent a major set back of the spreading of the gospel for centuries. The 6 locations were the eastern cities of China and their leaders, Northern India and the Himalayas, Central Asia, Iran, the entire continent of Europe, and a line that goes across Africa known as the Sahel belt, and this belt is important because it divides the Northern Muslim countries of Africa from the Christian southern countries of Africa, and the line is slowly being pushed south by Muslim missionaries. He then went on an explained the strategic significance of each of those areas, and then issued a call to go and win the world for Jesus.

After this dynamic presentation Ian, a good friend of mine, and I went back to our room, and knew that God was calling us to pray because He had something big in store for us. Part of the reason we thought this was because we were on historic ground. You see there have been 3 major missionary movements in the history of the church. The first was the 1st centuries church rapid expansion into through Christ's disciples. The second came through Count Zizendorf and the Moravians, and the thrid was the student volunteer movement which received a major push in Estes Park, Colorado at the YMCA, the very place where our conference was being held. Ian and I walk back to the room and knew that we had to pray. So, we invited the guys of our DTS to a night prayer to seek out the Lord and to respond to this calling on behalf of our generation. And we begin to pray as a body of guys that God would show us what He had planned and what He desired for the conference.

That is exactly what God did! 20 minutes into our prayer God speaks to a couple of us, and clearly tells us that he wants to start the 4th major missionary movement, and that he wanted to start that movement at that conference, with us. Now we realized that we were emotional and excited from the amazing challenge that Fred had issued us, so we continued to pray, but soon we found our self praying door by door for every person in our dorm building. Then we were led outside and went and prayed building by building asking God to come and set the stage for a radical mission movement to be begin, and to spread from the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. As we are praying for all of this we are completely baffled by what is going on, and we knew that we had to get leadership, but by this time it was 1:30 in the morning and we were almost positive that all of them would be asleep. But we went anyway to their rooms hoping God would lead us to a leader so they could confirm or calm us down. So, we ending go to the building where all of the leadership are sleeping and to make a long story short God leads us without any knowledge of where his room is, to Fred Markert's room. We share with him our story and what we think God is doing, and then he prayed for us, and said I believe in your generation and I have hope that it starts with you. After that Fred writes his email on a random piece of a paper so we could email him to get the resources of his presentation that he gave that night. In order that we could go out and spread that as well to mobilize a force of people to spread God's gospel to the ends of the earth.

We then go back to the room wondering still if this is really happening, and we pray that if this is really what God is trying to do to put the entire leadership on board with this idea of a great mission movement with out us even talking to them. When we get back to the room we begin to pray that God would give each of us direction and to strategically place us in his mission field based on what Fred had shared with us. As we are doing that I open up the paper Fred had given me, and it was a welcome letter from the conference staff, and on that paper were a set of prayer points. The fourth point down said that the staff believed that this conference was going to launch the fourth major mission movement into the world. And we realized that God had been working this plan out even before He had told us, and that this was not just us, but that the zeal of the Lord was ready to take back His earth.

We woke up Friday and went and shared are story with a staff member named Amos, and he told us we had to share this story with the rest of the conference. And that is exactly what we did, and God showed up and responded in such an amazing way. It started by Ian and I sharing the testimony from Thursday night. After that all of the guys who prayed that night together were called to come forward 11 in total. God then spoke to Brian Hoganm, a missionary from Mongolia and current church planting coach, and said to him, I used 11 guys once. I gave them the Great Comission, and here are 11 guys who am I giving it to again and who are going to lead the way to help fulfill it. We then received word that our intercession for Juarez, Mexico was working, and that God had placed his hand over the city, so that no murders would occur in a city where it averages 7 a day. On Thursday, there were none, and we asked God for a week, and we believe he will do more than that. Then the entire conference was called up front and laid on hands on the 11 and annoinuted us to go and become this movement. Then God used us and the staff to annoint the rest of the conference to the same. God went from moblizing 11 to almost 200 people in 12 hours, and with that growth rate just imagine what he can do. Once we had prayed for one another we began to network to see this mission come true, and for those of us who felt called to Africa we started a team of around 20 committed people who are going to go and strengthen and push back the Sahel Belt for Christ. Then the coolest thing is God started to heal his people through the prayers of one another, so that He could send out an army that was whole and lacking in nothing. And it is continuing to grow and more teams are being formed even as we speak. October 30, 2009 is going to be a special day in history when God mobilized a few to share a message that mobilized millions for His kingdom.

I am writing to you this story because I want to extend the invitation to you. Throughout the Bible God commanded his people to go more than 8,000 times, and he is waiting for his people to stop waiting for a greenlight because he already gave them 8,000 greenlights and He just wants us to go and wait for a red one. So, I am inviting you come with me. Come on this journey let us strategically fight for God's kingdom here on earth. Billions of people are dying and they have never heard of the name of Jesus, and that is the greatest injustice that we can change. So, if you have tasted of the goodness and sweetness of Christ would you come, would you share that message with me wherever God calls you.

I and all of those who already accepted the calling of seeing our generation fulfill the Great Commission need help spreading this message. You can help this movement grow in so many ways. You could pray that this does not die down, but that it keeps it zeal and vibrance and becomes everything I just told you it can be. You could also open up your churches, schools, or any place where we can come and share this message of God's strategic mission in the world. You could support someone who has received the call and going. We cannot do this on our own. Must of us who accepted the calling our poor kids who need support and guidance and need to be sent. So, would you send us? Finally you can come with us, and literally change and claim the world for Christ.

God has started the next major mission movement in church history. The only question that is left, is, will you stand up and be part of it?

Matt

P.S. - we are hoping to produce a video testimony of the evening with Ian and I to post on youtube, so that others can hear our story and receive the call and invitation that Christ has given us, so that can join with us and realize this is the movement that God has been stirring in all of our hearts. Let us not shrink back in a time such as this. We are hoping to do that in the next few weeks, and will send out emails when it is done!

Is the church boring?

2009-10-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

In church today God communicated to me a message through our speaker that I believe every one needs to hear, especially the church. He was talking about unleashing the next generation, and the adults part in fueling the up and coming generation, however while that is very true that is not the point that I believe God was telling me.

It is no secret that when you look at around the churches today in America many of are anemic and dying. They just are not attractive. In fact, must of them are just down right boring. People would rather sleep than wake up and encounter their Lord and Savior in worship. Those who do come many of them fall asleep or teeter on the point of it. Yawns have become almost an integral of background music. As a result, millions of people are chasing the world for excitement and life, and they are dying in the process. Jesus has become this boring teacher who is just their to teach them philosophical principles and morals about life. Church has simply become a meeting to discuss and talk, which is not all bad, but when that is the essence of church something is wrong.

Jesus did not create his church to be in meetings every day, and that is why when people come into the church today it is boring because that is not who we are. Instead God created his church to be on a mission, and not just any mission but a rescue mission behind enemy lines. And that is exciting, and when people hear that story there lives are captivated, but they cannot just hear about it they need to experience it. They need to see that Jesus was not some lame Rabbi who just sat around talking all day. They need to see that Jesus is a majestic king leading them into battle to fight the forces of evil, rescuing those who are still held captive. God's church is on a bonethrilling mission that leads us all to the dark places. It is not safe. It is not boring. It is dangerous. It is life-giving. It is exciting.

When will the church learn this? When will they stop trying to be safe? Christ died on the cross. He went through the worst pain imaginable to save the world, so that we may have an example on what needs to be done so that He can save everyone else through else. We cannot be safe! When will the church break down its walls and take its people to the dark places, allowing God to provide and protect and stop living in fear. When will the church start preaching about the mission God set us on. When will they start preaching the story that people are dying to hear and be captivated by. People want to live a life with a purpose that is bigger than themselves and this world, and Christianity has the best news for them, because God gave us a mission not a meeting time.

The church is slowly dying and wishing for revival. But the church will never experience this revival. It will not become vibrant until it trades in its meeting times for a mission. And the church, this entity, cannot change until its people do. For in fact the church is the people. Do you have a mission? Has God shown you, your objectives? Are you looking for them? If you don't and you aren't there is something wrong. But that can all change. All you have to do is reach up to God, talk to him, listen to him, and he will gladly give you a purpose, an objective, that will excite you and make you wake up each morning asking for more. He wants you to be excited for life. And so do I. You were created for mission, not for meetings, meetings may be part of mission, but they are from the whole thing. You do not have to be bored any more. Christ's went to the dark places and lived an exciting to give us an example to show us what true life was. Let us follow his example. Let us leave our church for the dark places.

Most of you who are reading this sent me, and now I am returning the favor. Go! Fulfill the mission. Baptize the nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach them all that Christ's has commanded you, thereby making disciples. People are dying, and you through Christ could be there rescue. That is exciting!

The Father Heart of God!

2009-10-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am a child of God! Say that with me. Really where every you are, no matter who is around, just say out aloud, "I am a child of God!" Who knows someone next to you my need to hear that. These words have changed my life. When you confess that you are a child of God, so much changes, because when you are a child of God you are given so much. You are told that God is pleased with you. He gives you hope. He gives you strength. He gives you power, and he makes you an heir to His kingdom. But the best gift that you get when you are a child of God, is that you are able to hear and discern the voice of you Father, and when you hear his voice it takes you too a place beyond words.

This week this was the topic of my classes. Every day God was telling me that I was his child and that with me He was well pleased, and it brought healing to me in so many areas that I did not even know were hurting. He showed my that I was worthy. He showed me that I was forgiven, and he showed me that I was provided for. Although the entire week I was searching guidance, I was seeking a word from God that I could not ignore and doubt. Then came our last class, but it was not really a class, as much as it was an invitation by every staff person and student to invite the Holy Spirit to come in to our hearts, illuminating the Father heart, to wreck our hearts for him, and that is exactly what he did.

I started out the time by asking a simple question that God had communicated to me through Marty to ask every day. Lord, what do you have for me right now. I started praying and listening and I heard nothing. I kept praying and pursuing but I could not hear anything, and I was started to get upset. Then I realized that with that frustration I would never be able to hear God, so I set it at the foot of the cross the best that I knew how, and then subtly, I heard him say kneel down and give me everything that you have. So, I knelt down where I was at and prayed and quieted my heart, and I began to hear a faint voice, but it was still to soft for me to make out.
I began to pray my heart to God. Telling him how I wanted to serve him. How with in me there is this heart throbbing desire to shake the nations world wide. Then I thought I heard him say good because that is what I made you for, but immediately I thought that was pride and arrogance slipping in, so I threw it from my mind.

Then I opened up the scriptures to Ephesians 1: 15-18, and I began to read Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, and I got to verse 16 and I lost it. You see since I left First Baptist I have thought like I failed them, and that I disappointed and let down every one there. To be honest, I have felt like because of this choice I was disowned, although I cannot really tell you why I felt that, maybe it was a lie from the Enemy to separate me from my church. But I read these words that Paul gave thanks for the Ephesians and remembered them in their prayers, and God said this what your church has been doing for you since you left. They have thanked me for you and remembered you, and they are proud of you. They have not disowned you. They love you and are so proud of what you are doing for me. And when God told me that I broke down in tears and I went back down on my knees.

Tears are rolling down my face, and God says to me I am pleased with you too. I have this amazing plan for you, and I am going to use you to do amazing things, to lead the nations. And immediately I thought this is just what I wanted to hear, so I told God do not let this influence what Marty tells me when he comes over here to pray over me. Tell him what I need to hear, even if it he means he tells me that I am just going to stay home and never go to the nations. I just sat there crying and then Marty came over.

With oil in his hands Marty anoints me by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and makes a cross on my forehead, and then stamps my hands as if they were the wounds on the cross, and he goes silent. He comes back and he says God has so much to tell you. And through Marty God told me 4 things that were my heart cries:

1.) You have been set apart by me since the beginning, and you can see that when you look around you, like the prophet Jeremiah I have set you apart in order to be a prophet to the nations.

2.) This may seem confusing because I have also given you the pastoral heart of Timothy

3.) With this heart you are going to bring healing and redemption into the lives of my people

4.) I want to give you every gift that you need. I want to give you all that I have. I will give you all of me. Just do not hold back from. If you give me all of you, I will give you all of me, and with that we will change the world.

This is such a high calling, but it was one that my hard longed for, and when Marty spoke those prophetic my heart jumped into a place of peace where I was giving everything over to him, and I was just balling. Then God started to show me he was not lying. He sent me to a friend here and I prayed for her, and she busted down in tears saying I have been praying that someone would speak those words to me all day that you just told me. And while we were praying she said this is the first day that she has been happy for so long she cannot remember. God was already using me to bring the healing he said I would. It was such an uplifting moment of confirmation.

The Father Heart of God desires to tell his people his desire for his children, and he praises when they rejoice in that calling. God wants to tell you his plans for your life, just like he did with me. You are his child, and with you he is well pleased. Don't hold back God wants to love you because you are his daughter or his son. And when he speaks to you like he has spoken to me he empowers you to live a life that you would have ever dreamed. The Father Heart of God is a heart that empowers and heals!

Going Barefoot, Giving Up My Rights.

2009-10-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

This first week of DTS has been crazy! God is so good, and He has been doing so much in my life preparing me to serve and follow Him. For my school, I have had to start by reading a book calling "Making Jesus Lord" by Loren Cunningham, and then yesterday I watched a teaching/movie by Loren Cunningham that spoke on the same principle of the book. Cunningham's main point is that through out the scriptures God's people have gone barefoot. Now going barefoot is a lot more significant than simply being with out shoes. You see being barefoot in those times was a sign of slavery and servitude. So, through out scriptures we see God asking us to take of our "shoes" for Him becoming barefoot for His kingdom. He asks Moses to take off his shoes at the burning bush because he was on Holy ground in front of his King, and Moses does it, and becomes His servant. God talks to Joshua and tells him on the ground where the soles of your feet take you I will give to you. In essence, when you take your shoes off, and you become my slave wherever I take you will be your inheritance. And then most importantly Jesus walks to the cross bruised, broken, and barefoot, not only as a slave to God to the Father, but as a slave to us, so that we may be free, and by doing that relinquished more rights and freedoms than we will ever know.

You see going barefoot is a sign of relinquishing. It is saying that I will be your servant, your slave. What I have learned this past week is that it is not whether you will take ever off your shoes and go barefoot, but it is to whom will you be barefoot, to whom will you be a slave, and there is only one King who in return for being His slave will He give you freedom, and that King is Jesus Christ. Jesus, is asking you to go barefoot for Him, and the amazing thing is like any other King that I know He did it first, so that we may know how, and even more amazing than that He has told us that if we commit to going barefoot for Him, He will do it for us. He will take of our shoes. He will use His strength in us to relinquish all that we are holding onto.

So, these past few days God has been working in me. He has shown me is amazing, outrageous, and undeserved love, that know matter what I do He still loves me 100%. He has shown me His gentleness and His strength, and has melted my heart so that one by one I have been led to relinquish my rights, to take off my "shoes" and go "barefoot" for Him. But this week has not been easy it has actually been really hard. Telling God that I am not going to worry about money and finances, when I still need over 3,000 dollars for outreach, is nerve wrecking and it tests my faith. But each day God graciously asks me to take off my shoes and let Him have control, assuring me that I will not be in need, that He will provide me with every penny that I need to go where He is leading me. So, taking off your shoes is not a one and your done deal. It is every day, and at times with certain issues even every hour. The cool thing is God is totally down with that, and every time we take off our shoes and give them to Him, He smiles and just wraps His around you and gives you the most loving, gratifying, and affirming hug you could every receive, and in that instant Heaven touches earth. But the list of what needs to be relinquished for me is longer than money, it includes marriage, the desire for kids (these three things may be the hardest for me), family, friends, my reputation, my debt, my name, my country, my comfortability, and even my life. But alas I know this is the best possible decision because the only way to assure that things are protected is to give them to God who is the only one that is big enough and smart enough to protect them from the world.

Each day God has taught me to ask what do I need to give to you today, and it may take the whole day to give it over, and sometimes I do not make it. But when I do. When I am able to see God clearly and freely give to Him everything that He has graciously given me I am freed from so many worries and concerns. So, at 8:55 a.m. the question is what I am still holding on to? What are you holding onto? May we learn to give them over to Jesus Christ. May we take off our shoes, and go barefoot for Him relinquishing everything that we have, including our freedom and our lives!

For whoever loses would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Luke 9:24

Self Realization

2009-10-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday I was able to go to school with Jayme, to Kansas University, and I spent a better part of the day in the library reading and meditating, even though that was not the original intent for the day. It is weird how often may plans never work out like I plan them. Anyways I spent much of the day in the Psalms and in a book called "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. In the book there is a small section titled "How Truth is to be Learnt" and a Kempis has a brilliant quotation in this section. He says, "...our guesses at the truth can never be more than light obscured by shadow. The humble man's knowledge of himself is a surer way to God than any deep researches into truth." After reading that quote I prayed that he would show me myself, so that I may have a proper understanding of who I am, and that can be a very dangerous prayer. For more often than not we are much uglier and broken than the picutre that we paint of ourselves.

Today, I saw that clear as crystal in my life. It is not that today was bad. In fact, it has been amazing. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Jayme and David. We walked in a parade for Jayme's work and I made a complete fool of myself, but met a really cool guy name Phillip who was from South Africa and was a blast to hang out with, and then just had time to think and meditate while watching House, which I know is a weird combination, but it is what happened nonetheless. But as I was thinking back on today, and started to think about getting ready for the parad and when I was trying on the clothes I began to look at the thoughts that were going through my head, and I realized how insecure I really am. I put on a really good act in front of people. I act like I am comfortable with myself, and as if I believe I have something to offer to society, but that is not the case at all.

In reality, I am horribly insecure about my body. Like a lot of people I wish I could lose a few inches here, and tighten up there. I wish I exercised more, that I ran more, and that I would take better care of myself. I also realized that if I was honest with people I do not think I am worth being with anyone in a serious relationship. Basically I think that I am not good enough to be with the person that I desire, in a healthy romantic relationship like I long for. I looked at myself as I was thinking, and just said there is no way she would want to be with me, so I should just move on and be content with what I have, which may have some truth to it. And I looked at myself and saw how insufficient I am. I went to college for 4 years and I may be more lost and confused than when I began, and consistently wonder how God could ever use such a wretch like me. I talk a great game, but find my devotional life so lacking when God is so deserving. My prayer life has a lot to be desired. My knowledge of scripture is no where what it should be for a guy who graduated from college Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Bible and Theology. I guess that shows how messed up the world standards can be when a fool graduates with such a distinction. Today, I saw how truly broken and beat down I really am.

I wish I could stand here and say I am beautifully broken. I wish I could stand here and tell you that in this weakness I am truly strong. But I cannot, and I know I should. Because we are beautifully broken, and with the shards of our life God is creating a beautiful mosaic known as the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom of ragamuffins who see their weakness, and as a result do all that they can, which is rely on the strength of the King whom they serve and live for. But I do not have that power yet, and this is not to say I won't. This is just the beginning of my journey. The first step in overcoming a problem is to admit you have one, and that is not something knew we have all heard that probably hundreds of time. So, today I am broken, and tomorrow I am beautiful, even if it does happen that fast.

This probably goes with out saying but please don't feel bad for me, because I don't. This realization did not come with a lot pain. In fact, as weird as it may sound this view of myself came with joy, and a smile on my face from ear to ear. It was an answer to prayer. It was God showing His power. I have nothing to offer, and a lot to work on, and through that I have encountered God, and He has everything. Don't be afraid to be broken. Like me it may be your key to happiness!

Charlie Wilson's War

2009-09-28T21:11:00.001-07:00

I just finished watching Charlie Wilson's War with Jayme and David. At the end of the movie, Charlie Wilson, who is played by Tom Hanks, makes a very interesting statement about the legacy of America's foreign affairs. He said that America goes around the world, and we change the world and then we leave. At the end of the movie, there is this quote, "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world...and then we f***ed up the end game." Now this refers to America and how America waltzes into other countries seeking reform, trying to give them freedom and democracy, and then when we clear out all of the obstacles, and we leave without teaching them and helping them learn how to live as free people, and new obstacles rise up in there way, or the old ones re-emerge.

Now I am not trying to argue politics and what should have/should be done overseas, because for one I am no longer very politically minded. Secondly, I am not sure that America is the proper actor of any of this anyway. However, I think what Charlie Wilson said offers a valid critique on Christians and how a lot of us evangelize. We seek to change the world, and we preach a message that claims transformation and redemption, and then we leave. This is most prevalent in a lot of street evangelism, but not all. We go out and proclaim His name, without realizing the commitment and time that is needed to see this work come to fruition. I think all to often we fall back onto a planting seed mentality, that we forget to see that, that seed needs to be watered, planted, pruned and taken care of, and that takes time. Evangelism cannot be a drive by giving of the gospel, but needs to be a consistent and constant teaching.

I mean we are giving a message that promises eternity, so why do we think eternity can be sown in a few minutes, or even a few hours, days, or months. If we hope to save those for eternity we must be willing to give our very lives for eternity. Street evangelism cannot be a daily/weekly event where you go out for two hours and then are done. That type of evangelism is too clean, it is too safe, and there is nothing clean or safe about the love that Christ has given us. Rather, when we go out for a few hours, we must be willing to give our lives and time for those we come into contact with. We must be willing to see our work through until the end. Now maybe God will not always call us to see every work we begin to the end, but what if he does. Isn't better to error on the side of too much love than too little. We must learn to live, laugh, love, and hurt with the people we are reaching out to not just simply talk to them and then leave.

Now this is a radical call. It means our schedules will be messed up. It means our lives will change. It means we will become vulnerable. It means at time our faith will be put on center stage. It means we risk being hurt, humiliated, and betrayed. Drive-by evangelism is much easier and it is a lot safer, and at times may seem more appealing, but drive-by evangelism will never build the Kingdom. It is too easy, and it does not require your life. But the call of Christ requires your life, so why do we so often try and find ways to take it back. He demands our life, and those whom we live with that are dying need it. Are we so selfish that we choose to selfishly hold our lives while others die? Are we messing up the end game? I want to see the world change for real. God desires the world to change for real? So, let us be willing to change the world for real. Let us see it through to the end. Let's get dirty. Let us give our lives for eternity!

The Journey Begins

2009-09-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

So, I have been in Kansas City for about 24 hours, and it has been fantastic. I spent the day yesterday helping some of my friend David's friends move into their new house, and had the opportunity of getting to meet some real good people. This morning I was able to go to church at both Jayme and David's (friends my trip to Thailand last year) churches. Both messages were really good, and God was really clear in His message to me. He desires for His people to go into the world with the power of His Spirit, in order to proclaim His Kingdom, and by doing that receive our inheritance, the nations. So, the question became for me, am I ready to go? Little by little I am getting there, and I am beginning to see not only an excitement of what He is going to do from in my heart, but also an expectation that He is about to do something great through His people, as long as we are open and willing for Him to act. This has actually been a message that He has been forming in my heart for the past few weeks, and I cannot wait to see where this takes me!

I do not have too much of a set agenda for the rest of the week. I am just going to play it by ear and leave it up to Spirit. I know today David and I are going to play a game that his friends came up with called field crumpets, which is a mix between field hockey and soccer with wiffle ball bats, so that should be an interesting experience. And then tomorrow I am going to meet with David's pastor to talk about my trip and what God is doing in my life as well as the MST project, and its vision and hopes, so that should be a really good experience.

Besides for that I hope to go and see the International House of Prayer, and have a great time of worship. At some point I plan to go to school with Jayme to go to the library to do some studying. For those of you who have been in contact with me for the past few weeks, know that I have been talking with a gentleman who is a devout atheist, and I have been talking with him trying to work through his disbelief, which he believes stems from a lack of logical evidence that can be used to prove the faith. In our conversation I have realized my inadequacy to provide him with the answers that I know are there, so I plan to do some studying in the library looking for answers and evidence to provide him with, to help in his journey for the truth. Your prayers in that would be extremely appreciated, actually a two-fold prayer would be great. First, that his heart would be opened to the calling and leading of the Holy Spirit, because it is really hardened to the possibility of God and His love. Second, that you would pray that God would give me the wisdom and insight necessary to help me guide him back to God. But, that is why I want to go to the library to study, because there a bunch of books that I want to look at that I do not currently own. If you have any suggestions, just let me know. So, that is pretty much the flow of the week.

I will leave Kansas City on Friday to fly to Denver, and will meet with the Pastor Allen from Christ's Church International, and will also stay with him until I check into DTS on Monday, October 5th. But I will write about all that later.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement. God Bless and if there is ever anything I can do for you or pray about please let me know.

Do you LOVE me? -Jesus-

2009-09-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

I have less than a week before I leave for my DTS in Denver. I have less than a week left before God prepares me to go into the world to retrieve His people for Him. I will be sent in order to save His creation through His word and example from death and ultimately Hell, which is a daunting task. As I have been getting ready to leave, Christ has posed this simple question, "Do you love me?" He asked this question to Peter, and like Peter, with each of my responses He has told me, "then tend my flock and follow me." So, do we love Him? How are we showing it? Are we going to His flock, reaching out to His sheep? This is our call. In fact, this is the Christian's life. In the past two weeks I have seen two videos that I think powerfully proclaim this message. This giving our lives for others is not a death sentence, but a privilege to answer to the call, which these videos will show. So please watch them. God will rock your world I promise. If you watch them please leave your comments for everyone to read.

A New Beginning-The Reason for this Blog

2009-09-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

It was two months ago! I was sitting in a dimly lit room, bible by my side, praying to God, struggling with the question, should I stay or should I go. A week before that I believed I had heard God tell me to go, to leave my home, my church, my scholarship, and my seminary behind. In that room that night I was confused, nervous, and above all scared. I wondered did I really hear God, or is this just what I want. I was scared that I would choose the wrong path. I was scared to leave it all behind. So I sat there, praying, meditating, searching, and evening crying, wondering what to do next. Then in a moment of anguish and utter desperation I cried out to my Lord, "God, I know you hear me, so if you are there tell me something!" With that declaration, I did all that I knew to do, and I opened by bible randomly to Acts, and on that page there was a set of red letters Acts 18: 9-10, and they read like this:

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."

As I read that passage it spoke right to my heart and in them I heard God tell me to go and preach His gospel to the nations, and to not be afraid because He was with me. So, that night I decided to go, fresh out of college, about to start seminary on a full ride, I decided to go to the nations and leave all that behind. I decided to embark on a new beginning, the next chapter in my God written story.

That is what this blog is all about. This my love story between God and me. In here I will chronicle all that is going on in my life. All of the pains, all of cheers, all of joys, and all of the tears. This blog will let you know what I am doing, and what I am thinking, which at times can be very dangerous. I would ask that as you read, you would leave your comments, along with prayers and encouragement, and at same time leave prayer requests as you see fit.

My journey will to Youth With A Mission will begin in less than a month. On September 25th, I will leave Massillon, Ohio in route for Kansas City, Kansas, where I will reunite with two friends from the mission trip to Thailand that I went on with the Xtreme Team last summer. After spending time there and speaking at an area church I will depart to Denver, where I hope to speak at a local church before beginning my Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission. At my DTS I will not learn about God, but will fall deeper in love with Him as I am led into a deeper relationship with Him. If you would like more information on YWAM visit www.ywam.org, that I have linked to this blog, or if you would like more info on my DTS visit www.ywamdenver.org.

Right now, there are others that God is calling, and you are sitting there in fear afraid to leave, afraid to take that next step. Please let this blog be encouragement to you. You are not alone, and fear not for God is with you, and He will be with you no matter where you go. Not only do you have God who is more than enough, but you have His army to go with. So, please take that next with me!