serious neglect

Well, I have been seriously neglecting my blog. So I plan to start this again, particularly given that I now live so far from friends and family, hopefully this will be a good way to keep up with everything! I am enjoying my time here in Iowa and as is common with my kind, am anxiously looking forward to the day God moves me elsewhere. That, I suppose, will be my curse all throughout my ministry. I have to make my self, often every day, concentrate on the things at hand, the work God has given me now. The work here is sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding. I am charged with starting the youth programs from the ground here. And as some already know, in The Salvation Army, youth work involves all ages from nursery up to 35 years old!! My hands are full no doubt! However, the Lord continues to pour out His blessings on His servant! Praise be to Him Forever!!

I'm on youtube

so, a couple weeks ago i preached on a sunday morning. i asked a buddy of mine to record the service so i could watch myself (constuctive critisism) he thought it would be a good idea to put the sermon on youtube.com. so if you want to see my latest sermon go to youtube.com, search for awesome God matt preaching, and you will see my two part sermon. hope you like it!

so far!

well, so far i don't think i've lost any wieght, however i also haven't done an incredible amount of exercising, nor have i stuck to this diet thing like i had hoped. it's not that it's hard to eat different foods, it's that it's hard to eat healthy foods. not because they taste bad, i have always liked fruits and veggies, it's that it's hard to get them, and harder to have breakfast or lunch in a healthy manner. i am still figuring it all out, thanks for the suggestions. so jonathan, how is your training going?

summer goal!

ok, so about a week ago i injured my knee, i tore the acl? and had to go to the doctor (kicking and screaming!) at that visit the doc told me of my injury and also said i was fat! (a little nicer than that, but same thing) he said that for my hieght i should be about 163lbs. now when i wieghed i was 272lbs! so here is my goal this summer, by the end of the summer i want to be between 160 and 180. i am changing my eating habits and as soon as my knee heals i will start exercising more. i want you all to keep me accountable to this, i am actually serious about this! so if you have any suggestions (joyce or jonathan collins!) i would be ameable to them. and all the support i can get. thanks and God bless!

fine, fine, fine

i have been told i need to update, so in case you were wondering here it is.
many of you know about my grandma dying in oct. however, most don't know my cousin was in a fatal accident in dec. he was only about a year older than me. yeah it sucks.
other than that life is good, only because of God!
i preach this past sunday night and it was awesome, my brother was there and two guys from the b-ball league as well as some folks from work. sweet! i preach twice in march and am really looking forward to it!
men's ministries is going great, and so it the youth program. life never ceases to amazing me, God never ceases to amaze me.

well, that's all folks,

In His Service,
Matt M.

such is life!

well, i believe it is time to update. life has been alittle hectic as of late. indeed my grandmother is not in nor of this world any longer, praise the Lord!! her funeral was the best i have ever attended. it was indeed a celebration and a tribute. there are a great many things i like about the salvation army, but perhaps the one that stands out now is the way they treat death. during her funeral the word death, or dead, or died was not spoken. she did not die, she was "promoted to glory" oh how wonderful the thought! she is not gone, or "passed" she is promoted to the glory of God most high, amen brother, praise the Lord, get out that white hanky sister johnson and start hollerin' cause folks, grandma is home!!!

on another note. um.... i dunno.
alot going on at the church, i would appreciate prayer in that area. the ministries the Lord has blessed me with are going great. and that is due to the King only! however, can i share alittle of what is going on.

it has been awhile now, i have been praying about leaving st. paul's. not out of anger or spite or anything of that nature, the reason is very simple. i need to expand my horizons, st. paul's is all i've ever known. i need experience elsewhere. here is the issue. in recent days two people have come up to me and told me they hope i don't leave because the youth group would fall apart! (i am the nyi president, since we don't have a youth pastor anymore i am it!) i don't particularly find this to be true, however i understand what they are saying. now, not to "puff" myself up, but i came in with the church elections this year, i became nyi in july. since then the youth group has done a complete 180 in the good direction. instead of being a lose confederation of souls, they are now friends, they now attend regularly and care about the group. but that is not all me. i brought in a vision and let my leaders work their magic, that's it. oh and i brought God into the matter. (a small thing i know lol) anyway, i need direction on this deal. so some prayers would be appropriate.
as always i pray for you. the broken, the sick, the hungry, the naked, the prisoner, the lost, i pray for you in all things, the outcast from society is on God's wishlist, and i am the matchmaker, that is my work on this earth.

The Lord be with you all!

that sacred heritage

in the past i have almost envied those who have an incredible life changing story about their conversion. although i lived a life displeasing to God, i was not a crack addict or a rapist or anything like that. and i cannot point out one single time that God "broke through" and my life changed forever, that has happened many times in many ways. in recent days with the failing health of my grandparents someone at my church commented that they had never met my grandparents but from what they had heard i had an incredible christian heritage. now my initial response was a simple "yeah, i guess i do" but i have thought over that a little more now. i realize that the heritage i have is an incredible testimony in itself. throughout this "journey" with my grandma my grandpa has had one single line, calmly and persistently he keeps saying, "the Lord will get us through." now initially i thought he was just being juvinille, i mean she is 81 and is restricted to bed and a wheelchair, and she is constently choking. but last thursday morning, we thought that was it, she literally stopped breathing for 15 seconds, foam comming out of her mouth, then, another breath. by that afternoon she was up in her wheelchair talking and laughing with everyone. that ladies and gentlemen is a miricle. she has had seven different types of cancer and made it through each one, her first heart-attack was before her youngest child was born. i don't say this to puff up my grandma, but to simply say, i am blest with a wonderful heritage, unfortunatly it has taken alot for me to realize that. you ask me why we don't see miricles anymore, i ask you where you are looking. quit trying to "explain" everything away and you will appreciate the awesome God i call daddy.