Two Stick Figures

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

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

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

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

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

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

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