Random reflections on Christmas 2010

It's December 26th, which means that Christmas was yesterday. Presents have been opened, feasts have been consumed. I know it seems early, but I wanted to share some random thoughts from this christmas. Here are some of the things I've learned this Christmas, presented in top 10 list form; some are serious, some are meant to be somewhat funny:

10. The Caramel Apple Spice from Starbuck's is addictively yummy.
I could drink at least 2 a day. But that would get expensive.

9. Some light displays are work of art.
I am amazed at the sense of beauty that strands of bulbs can instill in me, the lights really help to put me in a Christmas mood.

8. Some of the most powerful worship songs are Christmas songs.
"Joy to the world, the LORD is come, let earth recieve her king..."

That's powerful stuff right there, and I guess I never noticed the worship aspect of Christmas music until now. I think "Joy to the world" should be sung all year, not just at Christmas. After all, Joy is not temporary or seasonal.

7. The whole "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" debate is getting ridiculous.
I celebrate Christmas, and like it when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I mean, it's a Christmas tree in my living room, and those light around my porch are Christmas lights, not holiday lights. But Some people are taking it to far. I read an article in the paper about 3 weeks ago about a church in Dallas, First Baptist Dallas, that had created a website with a naughty and nice list of businesess. Those on the naughty list wished customers happy holidays, those on the nice list wished customers a Merry Christmas. In my opinion, it is a waste of resources; because instead of loving their community and showing them the love of Christ through service this church is insulting local businessess that wish people "happy holidays" by putting them on a so-called naughty list. Jesus cares more about people's souls than the way they greet people.

6. Elf is one of the greatest Christmas movies ever. 'nuff said.

5. But as awesome as Elf is, It's a wonderful life is my favorite Christmas movie of all time. It's a classic that you should watch if you haven't seen it.

4. My favorite name of Jesus is Immanuel. It means "God is with us" That is an incredible thought, think about what it means. It means God is with us. Not far removed from us, not against us, but here with us as go through life. Wow!

3. Coming home for Christmas is special. :) It's something you see in movies and hear about in songs, but this year I actually had to come home to spend Christmas with my family. It's quite a feeling to walk into your home for Christmas when you've been elsewhere for a while.

2. Family matters, after being away at school I appreciate them more than ever.

1. Jesus is the reason for the season. Have you ever tried to imagine life without Christmas? Not just our celebration of the holiday, but life without the Coming of Jesus, who is Immanuel, his sacrifice on the cross, and his triumphant resurrection 3 days later? It's a bleak, dark, hopeless life. But we do have Christmas, because Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he did walk this earth loving the unloveables, and he did pay a debt we could never pay. That's a reason to be joyful, not just at this special time of the year but all year round. There is at this time of year, what some people call the Christmas spirit. People tend to be more generous, more selfless, more caring and more compassionate to their fellow man. This is the lifestyle that Christians are called to live in their daily lives, yet often only at Christmastime is this evident in the lives of many believers. My challenge is that we would live like it's Christmas all year round, with joy in our hearts that overflows into our actions through our love for others.

Merry (belated) Christmas!

Truly Blessed,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

Abundant Blessing

It's that time of year, everybody is anticipating turkey, pie, and the myriad melody of "ohhhhhh I ate to much... ohhhhhh" But have you ever really paused to think about the meaning of thanksgiving? It has become cliche to say that we should pause to reflect on what we have to be thankful for, which is a bad thing. We should constantly be thankful for what we have, so I'm going to share what it is that I'm thankful for. So much has changed over the past year, I've had to make the transition from being a high school senior living at home to being a college freshman living independently on campus. I've moved from one city to another, from one area of minstry to something else, and from having a job to being a full-time student. I have been blessed in so many ways, and God has given me much to be thankful for. Here is my incomplete list of what it is that I am thankful for:

-God. Simply put, I'm thankful that God is God, otherwise this place we call home would be hopeless. He made this awesome planet that is filled with beauty that proclaims His Majesty. Look around, see the sunset/sunrise? He made them glorious so we could see a small, trivial glimpse of his beauty in the dawn/dusk. He is perfect, He is Just, and He cares. When I feel alone, I am not, for He is with me.

-My salvation. Without salvation, I cannot know how awesome God really is. Because God is Holy, and I am by birth and deed, a sinner, there is a gap. But God loved me (and everyone else) enough to send Jesus to die for us and take our punishment for us. He then rose again and forever defeated sin and death forever. The gap was bridged and now because of grace, I can approach almighty God anytime and bring him my struggles. The chains that once weighed me down are gone, the chasm that divided me from my creator is filled, and the burden I once bore has been taken away.

-Life. I can write this because I am alive. That fact alone is something to be thankful for. Soemtimes, life can be hard, it might seem like for every step forward you take three back and fall on your face. But life is beautiful, if you are reading this God has a purpose for you. We all face struggles, I know I have. Just because I'm thankful for my life doesn't mean that it has been a smooth road, just that I know that it all works out in the end. Life is a precious gift, don't waste it.

-My family. Without them, I do not know where I would be. My Dad is a wonderful father, and a Godly role model who I strive to emulate. If I can be half the man my father is, I will feel like I have done well. He is intelligent, loving, and hard working. I know many people who do not have a father figure who shows them how to be a man of God, and I'm thankful to God for giving me a great father. My sister has been a constant source of encouragement, especially in times when I reach waht feels like rock bottom. There are many other family members that I am thankful for, God has blessed me greatly by allowing me to spend time around them.

-My friends. Once again, I have been blessed with many friends who help me to keep my focus where it belongs. So many good times. This one area where God has blessed me greatly at Union, he has brought people into my life who in the short period that I have known them they are some of the closest friends I have ever had. To my friends who might be reading this: You have no idea how important our friendship is to me. If you need anything, I'm a phone call/text away. Anything at anytime. I love you.

-Union. Hands down, the college that God wanted me to attend. As mentioned above, one big reason is the people. The school is filled with people who love God, and want to give their lives to serve Him. In my first semester, I have become part of a prayer group that meets on monday afternoons. Wow. What a difference it has made in my life, God has used those times to encourage and edify me. The education is great, but it's the positive atmosphere on campus that I'm most thankful for.

-Good music. Without music, I would accomplish next to nothing.

-Food. I'm blessed to have an abundance of food, with what I have, if I go hungry it was my decision. I shouldn't take it for granted, and should be generous with what I have. So let me know of you want something to eat, I'll see what I can do. Seriously.

That's my flawed, incomplete list of what I'm thankful for. So this thanksgiving, and at any other time, just sit down and take a minute to think about what you have to be thankful for. Then thank God for those things, after all, he gave them to you for a reason.

In His Dust,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

Lonely one-hour drives can be a good thing sometimes. :)

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Not just a recitation on this occasion, but for me as I drove down the interstate in rural west tennessee, it was a wonderful, glorious, awe-inspiring truth. Observed from a distance there was nothing out of the ordinary on this autmn night, nothing that would suggest the wonder I felt that night. It had been a great day, I had made a trip home, to Memphis that afternoon from my new home in Jackson, TN at Union Univeristy. Life on campus is good, God has blessed me with many good friends who constantly challenge me to a stronger relationship with Christ. But, apathy was, and still is a struggle. Union has a wonderful spiritual atmosphere, it is quite common for me to find myself involved in great theological discussions. However, in all the busy-ness of my first semester of college life, these discussusions and my Bible classes soon began to replace my personal quiet time. I allowed the passion inside of me to die down to a pile of smoldering coals. I despised these feelings of apathy, yet did little to combat them. Complacency had overtaken my heart. My prayer life didn't slip to much, thanks to exams and to the prayer group I am in, but my daily reading of scripture and my personal time of reflecting on the greatness of God had evaporated. I needed an intervention, and God stepped in at just the right time. As I drove back to campus that night with the windows rolled down and the stereo blasting "for those who wait" by the band fireflight, I felt moved. The stars were shining bright, the breeze was billowing through my hair, and the sound of loud guitar filled my ears. The thought going through my head was: " this is an act of worship." Odd thought? maybe. But what I realized was that the song I was listening to, written and performed by a christian band, is a worship song. Not a worship song in the sense of we need to sing in our worship services, but a worship song in the sense that the artists who wrote that song were using their God given gifts to bring honor to God through their music. I could sense the awesomeness of God in the fact that he created everything, even the chords that formed the song I was listening to. And I thanked God for these gifts, the gift of music, the gift of a starlit night, and the gift of senses to take in this world that God has given us. It may be a fallen world, but the fingerprints of God are everywhere. God shook me from my complacency by reminding me of the glimpses of his glory that can be seen in creation, and in the creative talents of those individuals who seek to honor him through their work. I was overwhelmed by a sense of awe, and God reminded me that night that there is more to worship than singing those wonderful worship songs. Worship should be constant, God should be praised in all we do. Check out what it says in Colossians:



"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the LORD and not for men..."

-Colossians 4:23



When we do anything, it should be for God's praise, and to give him glory, not to glorify ourselves and those we work for. God is glorified in us when we do things seeking to honor him through those actions. As I drove down the highway in awe of the majestic creator while enjoying his wonderful creation, all I could say was: God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.



In His Dust,

Matt

(Numbers 6:24-26)

God is good all the time... All the time, God is good!

As I write this, it is nearly 1 a.m. While it is quiet now, not that long ago my ears were filled with a beautiful, majestic sound. The sound of the redeemed worshipping their redeemer, the melody of humble hearts praying passionately to Holy God.

Since my last post, I have moved in to my dorm and started my first semester of classes at Union University in Jackson, TN. In the two weeks since move-in day, God has done so much awesome stuff. God has blessed me by surrounding me with people who adore Him. So much so, that I am humbled by their adoration of our majestic savior. Tonight though was the kind of night that makes me wish for, and anticipate heaven. It all started with a couple of guys playing their guitars on the quad. We sang a couple of worship songs, and we were simply enjoying each others company. Then God showed up.

I've come to learn that some of the most moving worship experiences come when we least expect it. I don't know about any one else, but I wasn't anticipating what ended up happening in a circle of park benches on a small, christian collge campus in west tennesse. But God doesn't always work inside of our anticipations. We can plan and prepare all we want, but God isn't a magic genie that lives in a bottle and only comes out when it is conveneint for us. If that was true, God wouldn't be God. And I wouldn't want to worship a God who was bound by our selfish whims. So sometimes, moving worship occurs when we least expect it. And tonight was one of those nights, a night where God clearly moved.

One of the girls in the group asked that we pray for something that was happening in her life, and as we entered a time of prayer, God kicked down the door to my heart and began to remind me of his awesomeness, of his amazing love for me. This is a constant struggle in my life, remebering how great, and approachable God really is. Think about it, we as God's creation can approach the throne of God with all of our junk, all of our battles, all of our brokenness and He will give us the mercy and grace we need. Sometimes it's not in ways we understand, or in the way we want the problem to be solved, but it all goes back to God being God. He knows what is best for us, even if we think it's not the best. Check out what it says in Hebrews:

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may recieve mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Ever feel like God doesn't want to deal with your mess, that you have to fix yourself to appraoch the throne? That's backwards. You can't deal with your mess alone, and you can't fix yourself. You have to come before the throne before you can be fixed, before your mess can be dealt with. Because the throne of grace is where God deals with our messes. As we prayed, God dealt with me and reminded me that I need Him. All I could think about was how blessed I am, and how much God has done for me. God truly is awesome, and tonight he reminded me of that fact. As I go through this journey called life, I hope and pray that I remember tonight, that I remember the awesomeness of the God who made the universe, the beauty of the Lord who loves me, and the majesty of the Risen Savior who took my punishment for me and defeated death and sin forever.
Soli Deo Gloria!

In His Dust,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

He is by your side

As the opening notes to the song reach my ears, I impulsively reach to turn up the volume. I love music of all kinds, but this is one song I never want to miss. I want to savor the encouraging lyrics, and delight in the voices of the instruments as they take me to a place of calm contentment.

"Why are you striving these days?/Why are you trying to earn grace?/ Why are you crying?/ Let me lift up your face, just don't turn away."

We have all been there. We feel like we don't measure up, like we have failed God and will never be forgiven. And we feel alone, hurting and miserable. Your gut aches with the feelings of abandonement. But God is there, and His desire is to comfort you. That feeling that God will never forgive you for what you have done is a lie from satan. He wants you to believe that God has abandoned you and that you are worthless. But God hasn't abandoned you, He's with you and still loves you.

"Why are you looking for love/ Why are you still searching/ As if I'm not enough/ To where will you go child/Tell me where will you run/ To where will you run."

All of us want to be loved, all of us want to feel valued. So we seek love, we seek someone, or something that makes us feel valued and loved. And often we end up looking in the wrong places. God is pursuing us, he sent His son, Jesus, to die in our place so that we could have a relationship with Him. And that relationship is the only realtionship that ever truly satisfies. People are not perfect and will let us down eventually, just ask anyone who has ever been through a rough break-up. So we have pity party, we feel sorry for ourselves when people let us down. And we run, we run to things that will never satisfy, to things that ultimately cause pain. But God is right there, waiting for you to realize all along that a relationship with Him is the only relationship that will truly satisfy your desire to feel loved and valued.

"I'll be by your side whenever you fall in the dead of night/ whenever you call/ please don't fight these hands that are holding you/ my hands are holding you."

We all fall, we all need a hand sometimes. Life can be hard, life can seem more like a burden than a gift. But all those times you fall, God is there. All those times you cry out in agony and wonder how much more you can take, God is there. He is holding you. But sometimes we fight, we try to do things on our own. And God is still patiently waiting for us to admit our mistake and return to Him.

"Look at these hands/By my side/They swallowed the grave/ On that night/ When I drank the world's sin/ So I could carry you in/ And give you life.

The same hands that hold you, are the same hands that defeated sin. Because of His sacrifice, we now have life. And those hands that swallowed the grave are now holding you and comforting you. THAT'S AWESOME!!! If those hands can destroy death and sin, they can comfort you in times of pain.

"And I, I love you/ And I, I want you to know/ That I, I love you/ I'll never let you go."

God loves us, and we are forever safe in His hands. He loves us so much that He will never let go of us. Nothing we do can ever seperate us from His perfect, unconditional, redeeming love. He will never let go of you, even when the walls of your life are crashing down around you. Always remember How much He loves you.

The title of the song is "By Your Side" By Tenth Avenue North. If you haven't heard it before, I encourage you to look it up.

Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

You matter!

Ever feel like you don't matter? You probably know what I mean, we've all had times where we feel insignificant. Guess what? You do matter. You not only matter to me, you matter to God. That's right, you matter to God. I can say this because check out what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, verse 16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever beliveth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." -John 3:16

Did you catch the first part of the verse? "For God so loved the world..." Not just the people who go to church every week, not just the people who are living good, moral lives, but THE WORLD. That includes you and me and all the other people who have ever lived on planet earth. That's awesome!! This verse is saying that God loves you! And he does love you. He loves you so much that he sent His son Jesus to die in our place and take the punishment for our sin that comes between Holy God, and sinful man. Check out this verse from Romans:

"but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
-Romans 5:8

Because of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection, sin no longer has to seperate us from God. But the only way to have that awesome relationship with awesome God is to accept his free gift of salvation. God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with him. This verse in Isaiah 44 sums up the way God feels about you, and the effect that Christ's sacrifice had on our sins:

"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." -Isaiah 44:22

That's how God feels about you. He has taken care of your sin and wants you to come back to Him. Every time I fall and sin, God uses this verse to remind me that my sins are forgiven and that he wnats me to return to Him. The question I have for you is this:
you matter to God, does God matter to you?

Shampoo and $2 meal deals from Taco Bell

It started out simply enough. I was washing my hair when this odd thought popped in my head. To be fair, many of my thoughts could be considered odd, yet this one was very odd. I simply thought: "Matt Moore, one of the few men in the world to wash his hair this frequently." I told you, the thought was odd. (I wash my hair once a day, in case you were wondering.) But it reminded me of how blessed I really am and the fact that many in this world struggle to simply survive.

Yesterday I bought a new phone, and that cost me about $90. It's not an expensive phone, I bought it from wal-mart. (insert "you know your from Tennessee when..." joke here) But my phone has internet, so I can check espn.com for the latest in sports news. (I really like that feature!) The reason I say this is because I have internet access just about everywhere I go, but how many people in the world have never even used the internet before? Much less have access whenever they want to the latest news, weather, sports, funny youtube videos, and random tweets/facebook drama? When you consider the overall human population on this planet, I bet it's a smaller number than you think. Go back to the money I spent on the phone, $90. The human population is approximately 6 billion people, and roughly 2 billion, or 1/3 of those people survive on less than $2 dollars a day. That means that the cost of my "inexpensive" phone is equivalant to what many people, who see the same stars I do, who were created by the same God I was created by, and who share the same atmosphere as I, could survive off of for 45 days. That's how blessed I am.

Consider the shampoo I use, (and was using when the thought struck me) it costs me about $2. So the shampoo I use daily costs me the same amount as what 1/3 of the inividuals who share the planet with me have to live off of for the whole day.

Jesus says this in Matthew 6:25:
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

Let's look at that verse a little closer, remembering that about 1/3 of the Earth's population survives on $2 a day.
The clothes I put on today? They probably cost about $80 for the whole outfit. That means that with the money I spent on the clothes I wore today, 40 people could have survived on $2.
The food I ate? probably around $30. That's another 15 people who could have survived today on just $2. That means that with just the money I spent on the clothes I wore, and the food I ate today, 55 of the 2 billion people who survive on $2 a day could have survived on their usual $2 a day.
That's a staggering thought. We worry about what outfit to wear, and many people have to wear the same clothes daily for many years.

I usually spend about 2 or 3 minutes each day trying to choose what pair of shoes to wear, when there are millions of people who would be overjoyed to have one pair of shoes to wear everyday. We have so much, but we are always wanting more, while most of the world simply wants things that we take for granted. We are blessed like crazy, and one reason we are so materially blessed is so that we can share God's love, mercy, and grace with an unsaved world. Those who are poor, mistreated, and neglected are people too. They are God's creation and He wants to show His perfect love for them, and Church, that is our job. I'll never look at a $2 meal-deal from taco bell the same way, what to me is a $2 snack is worth an entire days budget to 1/3 of the population that share the same sun as me. And Jesus loves those people the same way he loves us. May we not only have eyes of Jesus to see those who need our help, but the heart that motivates us to love those who need his love, and the hands to serve them so that they see Him through our actions.

In His Dust,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

The importance of mind over matter

All of us have had good days, bad days, and the average going through the motions days, but what makes a good day, good and what makes a bad day, bad? It's not circumstances, it's attitude. Some of you, as you read this are thinking that I have lost my mind, but let me assure you that I have not lost my mind. Do the crazy circumstances I sometimes find myself in have an impact on my day? Absolutely. Stuff happens, but because I live for Jesus, he should run my life, not the circumstances I find myself in. That means that what keeps me from having a bad day is my attitude.

If you are a believer, your attitude should be one of contentment in whatever circumstances you are in. True contentment is simply knowing that God is in control and that whatever happens in your life, God has a plan and things will work out. I'm not saying that I only have good days, because I don't. I still have bad days that cause me to feel stressed, upset, or worn-out, but I've found that those days are days when my attitude is not one of contentment, instead on bad days, my attitude is one of resentment. When your attitude is one of contentment, it doesn't matter what happens in the day so much as who was walking with you through the day. When your attitude is resentful, your opinion of the day is based on what happened during the day rather than the one who gave you another day to glorify him.

That's one reason the Christian life isn't all roses and rainbows, as believers when the world sees that to us God is bigger than our problems, his name will be glorified. It all goes back to shining your light, when horrible circumstances threaten to ruin your day, being content in Christ and rejoicing in all circumstances will shine brightly in resentful world. May we all be content in Christ and be able to say:
"Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul..." -It is Well, Horatio Spafford.

In His dust,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)

Hello, welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog!
I finally got a blog after a few months of contemplating the idea of sharing my thoughts with the world. You might be wondering about the title for my blog and where it came from. The title comes from my view of life. Simply put, life is a gift. A sometimes complicated, sometimes painful, but always worth it kind of gift. You see, if you are alive, you have purpose and since you are reading this you are most likely alive, meaning that you have a purpose. How do I know this? Check this verse out:

"For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

In other words, God has a plan for your life. We may not always understand those plans, but that's okay, we don't have to. So enjoy the life you have, God gave it to you for a reason. Want to know the reason for your life? To love God, and to love people. That's right, God put you where you are to glorify Him in your daily life.

Matthew 5:14-16 says this:"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and prasie your father in heaven."

All of us who are brothers and sisters in Christ, our reason in life is to live a Godly life in a secular world so that God is glorified by our actions. That's why life is a gift, everyday you are given is another day to shine the light of Jesus here in this dark world. And that's an awesome thought!

In His Dust,
Matt
(Numbers 6:24-26)