Matthew Manchester

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25 Random Things About Me

26Jan09

i know it’s been a while since i’ve posted something so i decided to post this here. i wrote it for my facebook page. hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about me.

my initials used to spell M.A.T. (Matthew Allen Tucker), which is cool…but now they spell M.A.M. (Matthew Allen Manchester)…which is not. although i don’t get called matthew tAlker anymore.
the three main things i care about in a friend are servanthood, lover of truth and fun to hang out with….in that order.
i love skittles so much that if you give me a bag of them, i may think you’re making a pass at me.
i love movies that are closer to three hours than two.
after three hours at busch gardens, i have ridden everything possible countless times, i’m exhausted and i want to go home. no, i couldn’t care less about the animals.
i don’t love graphic design. i don’t love marketing. i don’t love playing piano. i love expressing my heart and solving problems.
my mom is my hero because of all she has been through and still suffers..
i make phone books.
if you ask me for a solution to a problem, i won’t answer you until i have a seemingly full-proof and my first answer will be the best you will get from me. that’s why i try to surround myself with people who can take that answer to the next level when it falls short.
my favorite version of the Bible is the ESV.
whenever i see a new spiritual truth, i tend to think it’s the most important thing in Christianity. after a few months…i find the right balance.
i think “end times” is one of the most important things in Christianity. and in reference to #11…i’ve felt that way for over two years now)
i don’t play video games because i get frustrated easily and i really suck at them.
i like to talk to myself a lot. if fact, it’s a must everyday.
in reference to #14, if i am somewhere and you can’t find me there…check an empty room or closet. i most likely am spending some time alone to collect my thoughts.
my life is all about long-suffering, perseverance and patience.
my dream is that my life would be funded by the songs i write and i could then work full-time at the church for free.
i adore peppermint, caramel and chocolate.
i can’t sleep at night without moving air or white noise…hence i sleep at night with a fan. no matter how cold it is.
i listen more to silence in my car than music.
i feel called to help and teach young adults and children. mostly due to reason #12.
many times i forsake being honest with someone to keep them from being offended.
i don’t like chain-letters or random apps or causes on facebook. if i do, get or join one…there is a purpose. or it’s a serious #22 issue. lol
i love the show “24″. in fact, sometimes i think it’s quite prophetic.
i would do anything, no matter how hard or how jacked up it makes my schedule, for anyone i trust and care about.

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An Open Letter To Fast Food Chains Concerning Black Friday

27Nov08

to whom it may concern,
you don’t know me but i am a patron of your business. unless you’re arby’s (sorry…just not a fan), then i have been at each of your restaurants (franchise or whatever) recently. so as an active supporter and patron of your restaurants, i wanted to write this post to help you make some extra money and in turn help some people out (who, i just checked on, are hungry).

you see, it’s 11pm on thanksgiving night. i just got back from a movie (changeling if you must know) with my sister and we enjoy driving by places like best buy or the mall to see all the “crazy” people who start lining up at 6pm the night before black friday so that they can be the first ones to get their hands on the “hot items” of the year. as much fun as it is to go “people-watching”, i started thinking about these people and how long of a night that is. i realized that, because the line is shifting throughout the night, someone in each group or party that is sitting in front of these stores has to stay awake, unless they were to wake up farther down the line because they lost their place. i can’t speak for every store, but i can say for most best buy stores, people are there from 6pm on. that’s 12 hours of waiting. that’s 12 hours of NIGHT…waiting. when most people are sleeping, they are waiting in line.

what does this have to do with you?
simple answer…they get hungry but no place is open.

everyone knows that denny’s and ihop are always open, but these places are not takeout places or drive-thru places where they can come real quick and get back to their group waiting in the line. it makes no sense to me because more people are out on thanksgiving night and black friday between the hours of 10pm and 6am than you would probably get for lunch for the whole week. i can tell you, there is a serious demand out there, but for some reason…there is no supply.

my friend told me that where he grew up (palm coast) there was a starbucks open during these hours and they made half a million dollars in that one night just because they stayed open. now, i can’t prove that dollar figure and give documentation about it, but let’s imagine a bit. doesn’t that make sense? people want something warm and something to keep them awake. it makes sense that starbucks would make a serious profit that night. in the same way, people are hungry and if you were to have your restaurants open throughout the night (on this night), people would not only respond with money and sales, they would respond with gratitude…gratitude for serving them in a time of need. you see, people understand why you are closed. they understand that you let your employees off for the day and they think of you highly for that, for letting them spend the day with their families.

but i think i have a plan that would impress them more. so for no charge, here it is:

leave your business open that night staffed by a team with high morale
i would encourage you to open up your business on thanksgiving night somewhere between 6-8pm (definitely no later than 10pm). 8pm may be the best time. that way all your employees can celebrate thanksgiving with their families and even get some extra sleep…because they’re going to need it. but since this is a holiday, if your team doesn’t have an extra incentive to do this, you will be seen as a grinch or scrooge and the low morale will hurt you in the long run. my advice is to offer double wages for that night only (trust me, you will easily recoup any “extra” money you spend). have a talk with your team and cast the vision. focus on the need (serving people who are hungry) and the response they will have (thanks and money-both short and long term). i would suggest doing 2-3 hour shifts that night to keep the excitement and patience up. an eight hour work day is long enough without it being in the middle of the night.
market in the lines
while you’re open, send a couple people to the local mall, walmart or popular store where everyone is waiting in line. give them some cards that simply say “we’re open all night tonight in case you’re hungry or if you need anything”. people are used to not seeing any restaurants open, so if you want to be seen, you’re going to have to get out there. all of a sudden, people will be going to your restaurant to pick up stuff for their whole group…because i promise you, come 1am, there will be a mutiny if the group knows there is food somewhere and no one will go out to get it. lol
lightly sell in the lines
this one is going to take the permission of the store, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. maybe they will do a partnership deal or something. i would suggest sending a couple employees to wherever the lines are with a cooler filled with one of your products (ex. if you are chickfila, a cooler filled with chicken sandwiches) and then sell them for $2-3 a piece, cash. that way the people in line don’t have to leave (in case they’re by themself) and you still make money. i would strongly recommend that you do not overprice these products you’re selling. THAT will turn off your customers and though they may buy from you that night (for whatever reason), you will suffer in the long run.

i hope this helps. if some place were to do this, their testimony would change the face of pre-black friday morning. i hope it happens. if it does, i’ll stop in and say thanks.

your faithful young supporter,
matthew manchester

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Serve To Be Trusted, Trusted To Serve More

14Nov08

i don’t know what it is about sectional pastors’ meetings, but it seems like everytime i go i end up with some challenging thoughts regarding servanthood and my life. this time, as i was playing keyboard for worship, i realized a reason why we serve. we serve to build trust. this is not the ultimate reason nor the ultimate temporal goal. the ultimate reason is because He’s God and He has shown us His love and serving Him in any and every capacity is the least He deserves. another reason is because we realize who we truly are without Him and His grace (two steps away). but another reason we serve is to build trust…with both man and God. luke 16:10-12 states:

whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with very much and whoever is dishonest with very little will be dishonest with very much. so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? and if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

now some people may say that passage is completely about money (and i do believe it concerns earthly finances), but the context and reality of those scriptures is all about serving and faithfulness (this is evident by what Jesus declares next – “no man can serve two masters”).

Jesus declares to the multitudes that we must show ourselves faithful in the earthly realm in order to inherit true eternal treasures. by living our lives now in the place of consistent faithfulness, we store up for ourselves glory and honor on that day. we gain our position (not salvation) in the end-time kingdom by making our lives like Christ’s – following the sermon on the mount, following the way of complete servanthood. the rewards we will receive in those days completely depend on our faithfulness now.

likewise, we must show ourselves faithful in order to be trusted now. but the reward for our faithfulness now is not the same reward that we will receive from Him when He returns. The way God has set up His kingdom, both now and forever, is this: we serve to be trusted, and we’re trusted to serve more. Jesus declares in matthew 20:25-28:

…you know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. not so with you. instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

even as i was typing that scripture i realized that Jesus never said “before you become a leader or become known as great, first you must become a slave and serve for a little while”. no, Jesus declared that if one wants to be great in His kingdom, both temporal and eternal, they must sell themselves as a slave and serve others completely and for the rest of our lives.

in the western church, we have followed the “ways of the world” by believing that we start off serving in the lower positions and then we move up the “corporate ladder” where we can stop doing those things and do more “honorable” things. that is the complete opposite of what Jesus talks about. the greater you become in the kingdom, the more you serve and the harder you work. the more authority you are trusted with, the more you are trusted to serve and lose your life for those you are over. Jesus’ example in john 13 is that the greatest among us wash the most feet.

this is the reason He declares, that in the end, when it’s all said and done, the meek (not the strong and forceful…but the humble and serving) will inherit the earth. the highest positions in heaven will not be given to famous people who traveled the world showing their ministry. the highest positions (like kings of actual nations in the millennial kingdom…among other things) will be given to those who didn’t blow their own horn but instead gave their lives and rights up to serve others.

God is looking for those who will embrace the way of the cross, the way of servanthood and death, the way of unselfish devotion to God and others. to them, He will reward with eternal treasures and positions when He comes. in the meantime…he offers them greater ways to die and serve. That is why i serve. so that He can trust me more so that i can serve more…even unto death, knowing that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (romans 8:18).

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Help For Hearing God

26Oct08

i’ve had a few friends who i’ve talked to recently who have been struggling regarding whether they are hearing from God and if what they’re hearing is true and correct. i gave them some of the things that i pray when asking God for answers and i decided to post them here as well.

when i pray for a serious issue regarding my life (calling, ministry, relationships, school, etc) i ask God to send me the answer in four different ways. the root of it all is being still enough to hear God’s voice, but i ask for these other things so that in the future i will not be able to doubt the Word He gave to me. this is just my method of asking God and is not to be interpreted as requirements of prayer. yet, through years of experience, i have found that God LOVES and enjoys answering each of these four requests. so i hope these four prayers can help your prayer life as they have helped mine.

“i ask You to answer me out of the blue“
the very first thing i ask for when i am petitioning God for wisdom or answers regarding a particularly serious issue (calling, ministry, relationships, school, etc) is to NOT tell me the answer right away. i know that when i pray my mind is trying to come up with a solution. there have been many times where i’ve thought i’ve heard the answer only to find out that my own mind/flesh came up with the response. therefore i ask God that when He does answer me, if it pleases Him, that He would answer my question out of the blue, when my mind is thinking about something completely different. it helps me know that my own mind/wisdom didn’t come up with what i “heard”.
“i ask You to answer me with many verses and chapters of Your Word”
the last thing i want (like mentioned above) is that the answer would rest in my own wisdom and knowledge. my words and opinions mean nothing to God and mean nothing in the reality of my life. the ONLY thing sure and sound is His Word. therefore i ask that when He answers me, He does it by giving me revelation of His Word. God is incredibly good at tying real life questions and answers to scriptures written millenia ago. there are verses that never may of made sense, but God breathes life into the page and it comes alive to my spirit. yet i desire that the answer not be founded in one verse that could possibly be taken out of context, so i ask that God give me a multitude of verses…even chapters proving what He is speaking to me.
an example of this is when i asked God to reveal to me my calling. about 21 days later (out of the blue…lol) He came and gave me the answer and then said “now turn to 2 Kings 2″ and for the next 30 minutes He opened to me the scriptures and what it means for my life and the times i am living in. He used other scriptures as well and since that day, my calling has not been rooted in my desires or my wisdom but in the Word and revelation of God.
“i ask that Your answer is bigger (of a wider view) than my question”
i think one of my greatest setbacks to hearing answers from God is that my response to His answer becomes increasingly limited and self-focused. that is why my third request is that God would answer not only my question, but also show me what He is going to do on the earth during those times. i don’t want to know how His plans fit into my question/answer, i want to know how my question/answer fits into His plans and heart. when God gives me a bigger worldview (regarding His plans and heart) along with the answer, it reminds me that the answer is not about me and my life…but about Him and His plan for His glory. it also helps me (if i do start to doubt His promises) when i look at the worldview and see that His Word has remained true. it encourages me that if He did not lie concerning His global plans that He did not lie regarding my situation. it encourages me that i did not hear wrong, but that my promise is close at hand.
“i ask for several confirmations”
the last thing i ask for is that when God does answer me and open my eyes to His world and His worldview is to reveal this situation (both question and answer) to people i trust who are bluntly honest with me. many times after hearing an answer i’ll ask those i trust with blunt honesty to pray regarding a situation and after they have done so i will ask them to speak into my life concerning the issue. although this is the last of the requests, i take it very seriously. the Bible stresses that “there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors”. yet at the same time it is not a thing you should ask just anybody to speak into your life about. i ask the people i am asking to confirm or deny to seriously fast and pray about the situation. i ask them to take as long as they need, many weeks or months if need be. i desire them to be absolutely sure before they speak to me (sidenote: some of those people will do these four steps to be the confirmation for my answer).
when they come and speak to me, no matter what i have heard, i open myself for correction and instruction. although i MUST hear God for myself, opening myself up for correction protects me from being deceived.

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(LINK) The Process of Exegesis

20Sep08

great post from mark cahill about studying the Bible:

I want to take a moment to explain the process of Biblical exposition. I want to dispel the rumor that you have to be a theologian to study the Bible…

i have said for years that i “study” the Bible when really what i do is meditate on it. this post has encouraged me to start digging deep into the scriptures and has showed me the way to do so. this is one of the most practical posts i have ever read about how to study the Bible. mark talks about how to do it right…and how to do it for FREE.

if you ask me, that’s a great price.

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The Difference Between Holiness & Legalism

05Sep08

i believe one of the things the church will see the closer we get to Jesus’ second coming is the authentic church growing in holiness. i know the Bible promises a great “falling away” of unbelievers but the book of revelation promises us that the church WILL be presented before the Lord “pure and spotless” and “without wrinkle”. because the Word of God is sure and true, this will happen. the church will become holy and a bright glorious model of Jesus to the world.

yesterday, i started pondering the word “holiness”. i have been raised (supposedly) seeing and hearing about holiness and what it is, yet there has been great debate and contention in the church about what is “holiness” and what is “legalism”.

i have been studying the “sermon on the mount” a lot recently and these two thoughts jumped into my heart and mind while i was thinking about holiness and legalism.

holiness is what God calls you to live while legalism is what you call yourself to live.
Jesus talks about the “blind leading the blind”, and i feel sometimes that i am leading myself straight into a pit. i’ll realize my sinful condition (which is good) but instead of realizing i can do nothing in my strength to fix the problem (that realization is called “poor in spirit”), i develop this “plan” to save myself and to make myself holy. the problem is i’m blind. i have no clue what holiness is. it is God who leads me along the “highway/path of holiness”. i think many times we suffer burnout and feel dejected simply because we put unreachable standards on our own life. it is God who calls us upward and it is He who will give us the grace to accomplish anything that HE has called us to. He doesn’t give us grace to the unneccesary things we call ourselves to do.
holiness is about God’s convictions concerning you while legalism is putting your convictions on others
this point is the one i see at the forefront of all the debates and contentions in the church and world (while i think the first point is the true root of the matter). i want to make this very clear…holiness is a corporate work but done in the midst of individual believers’ hearts. the result of multiple believers walking down the path of holiness with God in their personal lives is a holy church. corporate holiness cannot be done by instituting laws and standards. corporate holiness can only be as great as each individual’s pursuit of holiness in their personal walk with God. Jesus has already given us the “one two threes” of becoming holy…it’s called the “sermon on the mount”. we don’t need leaders and churches giving more rules and regulations trying to make the church holy and righteous, we need leaders and churches preaching and teaching the “sermon on the mount” (and other passages in the same flow of thought) which all go back to point one…we are blind and only God can show us each (individually) the way up the “mountain of the Lord”.

these two points in no way mean that “holiness” is all up to what “we feel it should be”. i am not talking about a “liberal” holiness in that we neglect the clear teachings of the Bible. we are to follow what the Lord has clearly shown as sin (if you want a good list, see galatians 5:19-22), but since we are blind, there are things that we don’t know that are unpleasing to the Lord. Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit would come and convict us of sin and lead us into all righteousness.

let’s let Him lead us. i’m over falling into my own pits.

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Drinking The Cup Of The Lord

29Aug08

i went to bed last night and woke up this morning thinking about the “drinking the cup of the Lord”. i read the story in mark when james and john asked Jesus for a place at His right hand in heaven. after some mediation on this subject, i felt that God impressed two truths about drinking from His cup.

it is a cup of suffering, weakness and sacrifice

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (mark 10:32-45)

when a person desires to be great in the kingdom of God, Jesus calls them to drink of His cup. this means self-denial in the fullest way. it is a call to suffer, labor and sacrifice for the kingdom and other believers…even to the point of death. even if they do not literally die, there is a death to self that must happen. twice paul expressed it another way by saying that he was “being poured out as a drink offering” and yet he rejoiced in his sacrifice and saw laboring for the kingdom and others not to be in vain.

in the midst of suffering…it is a cup of joy, salvation and satisfaction

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, You are my Lord;I have no good apart from you. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;their drink offerings of blood I will not pour outor take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;in the night also my heart instructs me. (psalm 16)

the psalmist in this chapter is crying out from a place of weakness and suffering (hence the declaration of “refuge”), yet he realizes that the Lord is His portion and He will satisfy him. He understands that even in the midst of hardship, He is found to be in pleasant places. imagine that! in the midst of suffering, the psalmist declares it to be like a beautiful vacation. the psalmist declares the goodness of God to give the righteous ones a “beautiful inheritance”, even in the midst of suffering. this is possibly what david was saying in psalm 23 when he said:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (psalm 23:5-6)

there is something to the power of God lifting us up and satisfying us when we are in the place of weakness (poor in spirit-matthew 5:3,6). i want to drink from this cup in both ways. i desire what paul talked about:

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (philippians 3:8b-11)

i will say that meditating on these things makes taking communion seem totally different and new.

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Desiring Mercy To Become My First Reaction

23Aug08

i have been desiring to be merciful and compassionate to people in a greater way recently than i ever have before. i have realized that the Lord desires mercy more than the things we give or “do” for Him. in matthew 12:7, Jesus speaks to the pharisees and says:

And if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless.

i am realizing that many times i think i have a right to judge or “condemn the (in reality) guiltless”. i compare my life to others and selfishly and arrogantly look down on them with contempt and pride. i judge their motives and lives thinking that i am somehow better than they are. although i do none of this on purpose, it is my first and natural reaction.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (matthew 5:7)

last christmas, our youth pastor and his wife took all the youth leaders on our annual christmas trip where we ate, had a scavenger hunt (stories to tell on that one) and opened presents. the presents were small things they had bought at a dollar store and wrapped up. the presents weren’t labeled so they told us each to pick a random present, open it and tell everyone what they thought it meant. the presents symbolized what God would be focusing on in our lives during that next year. we’ve done this for years and, strange as it sounds, it has a remarkable track record for being true and deeply spiritual. anyways, when i opened my present, i saw that i had gotten (what the package called) “lip leash lip gloss”. it was a travel lip gloss container with a mirror on the back. after opening it i harbored a guess what it meant (”i think God’s telling me to watch my words”) but i didn’t know the fullness of the meaning until a few nights ago.

the present represented that God wanted me to “stop judging and start giving mercy to others (deserving or not) in view of my need for mercy”. in the sermon on the mount (matthew 5-7), Jesus starts out with the Beautitudes (matthew 5:3-11) and the very first one is:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (matthew 5:3)

being “poor in spirit” is simply to realize where you’d be without the mercy and grace of God. it is a realization that you cannot save yourself and you are forever doomed without God intervening into your life. the next step is to mourn that you are living for far less than what God wants for your life (matthew 5:4). after that happens, when you realize who you are apart from God and you mourn consistently for all the things you do apart from God…true meekness and humility set in (Matthew 5:5) something comes over you that you realize that there is no judgment or consequence you don’t deserve. that causes such hungering and thirsting for God to start in your life (note: the true realization of weakness always draws us closer to the Sufficient One) and you start desiring God above all else (matthew 5:6, 6:33) and then because of the hunger and because of the true humility…you are compassionate towards people. you feel for them. you desire mercy for those in the struggle and you pray and long for mercy for those who don’t want to struggle anymore.

in my life recently, i have been more acutely aware of my frailness. it’s not an overexageration of “how terrible i am” but a honest glimpse of who i am in my flesh and without God. this realization (through the sermon on the mount process) is now starting to stir up in me compassion and mercy for people. i see other people’s weaknesses, failures, strongholds and issues and i am reminded of my own. this pushes me to pray for them, in the same way as i would cry out for help for myself.

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (matthew 7:1-2)

the beauty of have mercy on others is that you are promised mercy back. if i refain from judging, i will not be judged and if i give mercy to others, Jesus promises mercy and grace for my needs in return. ever since that night, it seems my world has gotten a lot more frustrating. it seems people are doing all they can to get me to judge them or critize them and i have to admit, my first thoughts and sometimes my first words are harsh and judgmental but then God reminds me of my need for change and mercy and i am overwhelmed with compassion.

yet that is not enough for me. i am fighting to become a man where my first reaction to offense, frustration and things/people that would try to get me bitter is to give mercy and compassion. i desire that before i ever understand the issue, before an apology comes, before the Lord stops me and reminds me of my weakness…i want to give mercy. that’s what i want God to know me for…that “he desired mercy like I (Jesus) desired mercy”. it’s a fight and a struggle that not fun to the flesh (cause sometimes you really want to lash out) but in the end, it will make me a peacemaker (matthew 5:8), someone God can trust and entrust power to, to make wrong things right in this world. so until the end of my life (and even in the age to come), i desire to be a person of true humility, passion and mercy…cause i know THAT is what Jesus wants from my life.

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Preaching From The Well

21Aug08

during these last few weeks, i have striven and determined to live a life with a steady morning devotional life filled with studying God’s Word and prayer. ever since i have started, my life has gone fantastically better and one of the main things i have realized is the authority and weight of my words recently. i can feel power and effectiveness when i speak or talk about the things of God. it’s like arrows of fire and passion being shot out of my mouth.

for a long time, the only time i would seriously get in the Word of God was when i had to preach at youth or something. those times were alright but seriously fell short of what God wanted. my devotion life was like drinking a glass of water once a month or so. now, since the change, it’s like i’m speaking, living, preaching, praying and even worshipping from a well. there’s a depth of revelation and authority that i feel myself reaching into whenever i pray or think and speak of God.

it’s good to know that when life gets hard and dry, that i have a source of refreshing and revelation that will sustain me and now that i’m finally tasting this true “living water” in abundance…i don’t ever want to go back to a life with a “glass”-like devotional life.

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Mercy: The Beginning Of True Change

16Aug08

“blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” (matthew 5:3-7)

i’m watching The Call DC 2 with my friend mark today and during the opening lou engle declared that “we don’t need change, we need mercy”. that phrase has really gripped me for a few hours now and i started pondering that statement. it was then that i realized that Jesus said in the sermon of the mount that the first requirement of a true believer is that they understand their spiritual condition without God and mercy; that they are eternally broke without God giving them mercy and that they would mourn and cry out (hunger and thirst) for righteousness because of this fact.

it has been an election year here in america and we have heard about the “need for change” more this year than in any previous election that i’m aware of. there is a massive debate between candidates on how is the better “agent of change” for america, who has the better and newer ideas to turn the nation around.

the problem lies in that we think we can save ourselves. God addressed this issue with me this past week when i was thinking that i should go to certain church members’ houses and give them a “word” of harsh warning of the times and seasons we are entering into. God asked me:

“do you really think you can do more in your flesh than you can do in the place of prayer asking Me to intervene in this situation?”

likewise, we must come to an understanding that there is only one man who can change america…and that man is Jesus Christ. no matter how good our “solution” to fix our problem may be…it will only end in our destruction, like when israel wanted to have a king instead of God. let’s pray that God hears the prayers of His holy church and breaks in to this nation.

we need mercy from the One who can truly bring change.

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