New Year Update

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

"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!