The most awesome family in the world

Seriously blessed to have these guys as family.

Going away... and coming back

So, I just got back from an unbelievably good weekend away with guys from CU- at a big house outside Reading- a weekend full of spending a lot of time studying God's Word, praying, spending time with brothers and sisters of the faith, worshipping, walking in the country and still other activities which sound stuffy and boring, but which in actuality have left me more refreshed and challenged than i could ever have expected. We studied the book of Jonah in some depth over the three days, and i was struck with how much deeper the story is than i remember from sunday school. We looked at our motivation for evangelism, and the way we are enabled to do it- 2Cor4- it is not us. It is ALL down to God, and we are just the vessels. We discovered anew the God of Grace who saved us- something that left me broken at the realisation of how much Christ has done.
Several points of thought from the weekend--
Why did God flood the earth in the time of Noah?
-- To prove to sociologists that if you remove all the "bad people" from the earth in one cataclysmic event- if you wipe out all sin on the planet, if you start again with the only six righteous people on the face of the earth-- You will still not solve the problem of sin. Sin is a disease, invisible, and much much more serious than paralysis (see mark 2)
Cutting off the hand might prevent repeat offenses of stealing, pulling out your eye might prevent you from looking lustfully at a woman- but sin is a matter of the heart. So to solve it you have to cut out your heart. In order to prevent repeat offences, you have to die. You have to die to everything that makes you human in order to be made new- the life i now live in the body i live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.
Gal 2.20-21.
I can only live by grace, as there is nothing within me capable of attaining salvation for myself. I am wholly lost and in outright rebellion to God and His authority- I am an enemy of God and all that He is- But when I accept Jesus, I die to sin. I am no longer in the dominion of sin, of darkness, a slave to evil- I have become a slave to righteousness, and the recognition of this phenomenal mercy that makes me alive with Christ overwhelms me. I now subsequently and naturally should and will spend my life in learning more of this Jesus, the source of all light and life, the one who has brought me out of darkness and into His kingdom.
And with the dscovery of just what I have been saved from, how can i not see my friends differently? How can i refuse to notice that they have a one-way ticket to oblivion and seperation for eternity? The people around me who I claim to love are in outright rebellion to the King, and unaware of their status- And I may be the only Jesus that they will ever know. How can i sit still? Jesus, give me perspective! Please don't let me carry on this apathetic reluctance, or valuing others' opinions more highly than yours- Break my heart for what breaks yours, Jesus, and don't leave me alone until I do something about it.

Family

Family photo shoot pictures

Wings

No, they're not mine... but they're awesome:-)The thing about flying is you have to jump off the ledge. In order to glide upwards on the currents and eddies you must hurl yourself headlong into the abyss and believe that underneath are the everlasting arms. A mother eagle does not teach her chicks to fly bit by bit. She simply kicks them out of the nest. Often God is more gentle with us, but often He wants us to do our bit of the growing too. I often wish that God would simply place in me all of the attributes He wants me to have so that I won't have to learn them the hard way. But, it turns out, the only way to develop patience is to be faced with many oppurtunities to be patient. The only way I am ever gonna learn to fly is to get out of the nest. But if I won't get out, God may well give me a shove. He knows I need it. Instead of resenting God's nudging or overspiritually rebuking the enemy when in fact it is only my circumstance which are out of place- I need to recognise the purpose and the lesson in the shove. What attribute am i learning here? How are these circumstances giving me oppurtunity to grow up?
Ranting and raving about unfairness, i've discovered, is kind of pointless. Are we actually genuinely demanding what is due to us? Let's think about that for a second. That might be dangerous... I deserve eternal judgement and fury for what I've done. But God in His incredible and reckless grace has chosen to be a father to me, whether that requires taking me by the hand as I take my first steps, picking me up and reassuring me when I fall, or sometimes saying, "Matt, you're old enough to do this now- just do it. Don't make me shove you. You have to grow or you'll stagnate and I'm not willing for you to be lost. So even if it means me shoving you out of this nest, You're gonna grow and become who I want you to be, and fulfill all that I have planned for you. I love you too much to let you stay how you are. Now get out of this nest and get on with the flying."

Spelling

So its been a while since i posted, i know. That doesn't mean nothing ahs been going on :-) loads has happened and is still happening that makes the normal things of a previous life less and less comfortable. Maybe thats what I need in order to accept growth. I heard recently that you spell growth C-H-A-N-G-E and also that faith is spelled R-I-S-K. Well that's all very well until you have to do it.
Circumstances are changing in my life which will mean i have to adapt and change, grow and progress, in order to deal with it. But the working out of what to do next is anything but clear. I need the wisdom to see the next step and the faith to take the R-I-S-K.

What hurts the most

Wow. i got just a little bit emotional watching this- thought i'd share it.

Egkentrizo

Graft (egkentrizo; the Revised Version (British and American) "graft"; the King James Version, "graff"):

The word occurs 6 times in Rom 11. Paul assumed that those living about Rome were familiar with the process of grafting olive trees, for olive culture had been adopted by the Greeks and Romans in Paul's time. The wild olive trees (Arabic colloquial, zeitun berri) are cut back, slits made on the freshly sawed branch ends, and two or three grafts from a cultivated olive (Arabic colloquial, zeitun jouwi) are inserted in such a way that the bark of the scion and of the branch coincide. The exposed ends are smeared with mud made from clay, and then bound with cloth or date straw, which is held by thongs made from the bark of young mulberry branches. The fruit thus obtained is good. Wild olives cannot be made cultivated olives by engrafting, as Paul implies (Rom 11:24), but a wild olive branch thus grafted would thrive. So Gentiles would flourish spiritually when grafted into the fullness of God's mercy, first revealed to the world through Israel.
James A. Patch

http://www.wildolive.co.uk/

This website i've found really helpful in understanding my place in relation to the people of the promise, Gods chosen Israel. I think its interesting that grafting can't happen without wounding. The process of joining, of uniting, is a painful one and requires wounds.

Just something to ponder...

New Name

Did you know that the disciple Matthew was also called Levi? I just found that out. pretty cool. so i looked into the name- always nice to have a cool biblical alternative name eh? Levi means "joined" or "attached" from the Hebrew word yilaveh.
Levi as well as being a disciple/tax collector in the new testament, was the third son of Jacob and Leah. When she gave birth, Leah is supposed to have said, "maybe now my husband will be joined to me because I have borne him three sons". Wow. unpack that one why don't you?

We tend to look at Rachel, Jacobs second wife, as the significant one, the more loved one, the one who bore Joseph. How often do we look from Leah's side of the fence? I find this really interesting to look at because i have often struggled with feeling like an outsider, despite feeling like i have every reason to be accepted. Leah was the older sister, had given Jacob more children, but was unloved. We see in the name she gives her son, the longing to be finally joined with her husband- not legally, that was already taken care of; but in his heart. She wanted to be one with him.

We find ourselves in much the same position as Leah oftentimes, even when it comes to God. God chose his people, Israel first. As Gentiles, we are not part of the covenant he made with Abram, (later Abraham). We are outsiders. Over there are the people of the covenant, those with whom God shares a testament. But we are over here ignorant of His ways, chasing after gods of our imaginings and bowing down to any hint of significance or greatness we can create.

And yet God, in His indescribable mercy chose to include us in His covenant. The problem with the old, and its dependance on the actions of men, chosen men yes, but fallen men nonetheless, has been wiped away with the new covenant, which depends only on Himself. God swears a covenant by Himself. Not dependant on us. And inclusive of us. Romans 11:17 calls us Gentiles "wild olive branches" that have been grafted into the root. This "grafting in" is kind of similar to the "joining" in the Leah story, i think. But the inclusion in the amazing heritage and promise God made for his chosen people is an incredible honour. Its easy to forget our place. We did not start this. God in His grace simply chose to graft us in.

"Levi/Levy, Standard Levy לוי Tiberian Lēwî ; "joining"
"The text of the Torah argues that the name of Levi refers to Leah's hope for Jacob to join with her, implying a derivation from yilaveh, meaning he will join."

Redemption

Two years on.
Renee.

Everlasting Doors 2

"You're back in the way again- I thought i told you last time- Get out of the way, my Dad is coming through."