Archive for Embassy
An Update
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
Here I am sitting at the church listing to Lorna play after just having been done at the Dr’s office and really just thinking to myself.. what an amazing 4 weeks I have never been more excited about life then in a long long time. I recently started dating the most amazing women in the world. I never thought that I would ever date her in a million years. We met when we were 10 and well from time to time we lost track of each other and in the last few months have been connecting.
When I love about her most is how she is so independent.. how she takes charge of what she wants and goes for it. When she knows what she wants there is no stopping her. She is so amazing a person inside and out.. We talk about everything.. there is almost nothing that I don’t tell her. Late night chats on the phone.. time apart so I can do my church thing and then we catch up. She is so supportive of what I do here at the church. She is all around the perfect women (at least in my eyes)
What else is been going on.. well not much… I am turning 31 on Saturday and going from there. I am going to be visiting with a friend of mine who is also having a birthday on the same day. So it should be an exciting weekend. This weekend is also fathers day and my mothers birthday all in the same day.. How fun is that. So this should be a very exciting week.
As for the church we just finished up the online store and its products. take a look at www.theembassyofgod.com/store/ Pastor Matt and Ron Prestage did an awesome job on the covers for the cds and boxes and I worked hard on getting the sermons in order and edited for sale. We together were as Ron said a machine in getting the website done and running. WordPress is the most awesome tool in the world for this stuff. We are going to unveil it to the church this Sunday
What else has been going on.. well just doing my stuff for my self.. I am working on getting all of my movies and tv shows on to my portable hard drive and into my Itunes so that I can watch them on the computer at anytime I want.. I have my MacBook setup to run off the TV . I can in my Itunes watch anything I want from movies to tv to listing to music It Rocks! Plus I am still doing all of the church stuff that I normally do.
Really working hard at the church these days.. The store took up most of our time.. but I am still doing sound and media work.. Joined the intercessor team for the Worship team and working hard on my proverbs study. My gal is now doing it along side me. She is always challenging me to go higher in the things of the Lord and I love her for that. She wants to make sure that we have put God first before anything else in our relationship and that has always been my primary goal with this relationship is to put him first. She is awesome!
Not much more then that is going on. I really don’t have much to say. So I will close for now.
Till Next Entry
A Journey
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I have just been though a month of “Gardening” or what some people would call removing old roots and I have come to realize that one there was a lot of crap in my life that I had to deal with and secondly there was a lot of stuff I had held on too for way to long. As I sat back and asked the Lord to reveal what he had been telling me I began to realize that a lot of this was holding me down health wise. I never knew how much anger, resentment and defensiveness could keep a person in bondage.
But this was only the beginning of what was to come in my life. I never realized how much this was going to change me and how much this was going to leave me with a very empty feeling. I have been walking around with an empty spirit, holes in the garden were anger, resentment and hurt once was. I am now at a point in this time of transition where I need to be filling it with things of the Lord. But what really is that?
How do you begin to fill the holes that were once full of garbage. How do you begin to find what it is that you need to not walk around lost and confused. Well the answer is not that simple. I am only in the 3rd week of April and I still have yet to find out what this is.
I cannot believe that taking the month away from things and taking the time to look into all these roots was only the beginning. My mentor said that the Lord is never done with us until we are in heaven. I want to be the best person that God has called me to be. I want to be the best leader that I can be. But what does this look like. What does this really mean?
The question is not that simple. There is a lot of sacrifice that has to be made when do this. I just got through an intense 5 Days in His Presence at the church and I went non-stop with everything. I ran hard and really never took any time to just sit and soak in what the Lord was doing. I did get hit with stuff and was able to give a word to a friend but really never just sat. I hated not being able to sit and take in and I love it all at the same time.
Strage from a guy who after 5 days has not done anything in the Sound booth on Tuesdays. I really want to lead and over see things rather then just doing. This is a hard concept for me. Especially when one place I volunteer @ never schedules Media Shout people separate from Recording. I always end up doing Media Shout when one of the ladies is on Recording. So I never just get to take in and hear from the Lord. I do hear from the Lord when things are going on but not my undivided attention.
Sometimes we need to just sit in his presence and take in what the Lord is doing. We need to know what he wants for our lives and what he wants us to change. I know this because he asked me to remove my cable tv from my home and to spend more time in his word and just listing to what the people around me (mentors, friends, pastors etc.) are saying. So this is what I am trying to do. Now I know it only takes a few min a day to be in his presence but there is so much more to it then that.
I am finding that if we really want to live the life that the Lord is calling us to live that we must first put him first. Secondly be willing to leave everything behind and thirdly do what the Lord commands of us. If we can do that and be willing to sacrifice everything then we can do anything. We are called to be Sons and Daughters of the most high God and to be secure in that. If we can get that in our hearts then everything else is gravy!
Here is my thing though. It is hard I know that through Christ all things are possible (Philippines 4:13) but I am just encountering a few things lately that have got me held down, confused and at times upset. These situations are leaving me lost, clouded and confused at what to do. That may seem strange but we all encounter things that do this to us. A few of the situations I have had to leave in the Lords hand and walk away and just continue to pray for them. I know that is hard!
The decrement team say to me during 5 Days in His Presence that if it becomes a burdon and it starts to feel really heavy then it is time to walk away and leave it in the Lords hands. But continue to pray for that situation. We must continue to pray till we see the break though that the Lord want to show/give us until then we are not doing praying.
Starting this month I am joining the prayer team at our Young Adults department and I have never been more thrilled in my life to be on this team. I love to be in prayer, I love to study his word. My only down fall is concentration and time. But with the added bonus of having no tv except the videos and movies on my portable hard drive and dvds I should be able to make the time to sit in his presence and learn what it is he has for my life.
But I now have to get ready for church. Have A Blessed Sunday!
I do though want to leave you with this video from Misty Edwards call “My Soul Longs For You” just sit back and listen to the words as Misty Sings
http://www.vimeo.com/5789875Till Next Entry
Random Thoughts: A Month of Changes
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Have you ever had one of those days you wish you could just crawl under a rock and hide from it all.. I do.. that was today.. I have been going through a month long transformation and I have been dealing with a lot of things from my past I have never delt with and well to be honest.. it is hard to deal with my past and to deal with what I have held in a locked box for a very long time. Some of them as been easy to let go of and some have not been.
I just wonder what the next 2 weeks will hold. I just wonder what life will have in store for me. But today I let my stronghold get the best of me and since then I have locked myself in front of my laptop and tried to forget that it even happend.
Yesterday I had a chat with a man who I admire more than anything in the world. He gave me some excellent wisdom into what the Lord is doing with my life and some things that are to come even though I did recieve it I began to wonder why did the Lord choose me.. why am I in the place that I am now.. did I make choices in my life that lead me to the person that I am now.
What could I have done to change the path that I took what could I have done to prevent some of the things that are going on in my life right now. Some of my life right now I am very happy with and some I still want to rip out of me and say “Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!”
I have to say some of the best things that happend in my life are this. 1 and the first of all things is meeting my mentor and friend here is a man other then my parents who has kept me grounded and on the path that my mother knew all my life that I should be on.
The second thing was finding a good church. I had been church hoppin’ for some time.. going back and fourth from one church to the next and back to the church I grew up in and it was not until my long time friend Serena brought me to “The Embassy” and I have stayed put ever since.
The third thing was meeting a man who seems to have it all together. A Wife, 3 beautiful kids and a very technologily setup home. I really wish I had gone the path that he did and that my mom knew I belonged on and maybe I would have been like him too.
Should I after stating all of that really be upset with my life? Well ya.. don’t we all have something in our life we would like to change? I do.. but that will happen in time. I have to keep dealing with the root of the issues rather then cutting off the bad fruit.
Here I am sitting alone in my apartment with nothing but me, my computers and television and yet I spend all day working on stuff for DHOP and watching tv when I could have spent time in the word, reading my book and keeping good things around me. Maybe then my strong hold would have not gotten the best of me.
I am right now watching Fame the 2009 remake and I am watching people who know there place in life and are working towards it. After the last two weeks I question my place in life. I question weather I am on the right path. I question weather God really wants me to do things in technology when there are so many more people in the church who can do what I do so much better.
This year is only just begun and I feel more unshure of what my purpose is now then when Pastor Derek spoke on finding your place in the kingdom with his series “His Kingdom, Your Purpose” and I guess that stems from watching a guy take my place as leader in the Media department of This Generation get further along in 2 weeks than I ever did in 3 years. Makes me doubt myself and feel really small. It is not him but it is me..
Do I have what it takes to do what my mentor is asking? Do I have what it takes to do what it is the Lord wants. Will I ever see the fullness of my Kingdom Purpose or will I be on my death bed going “why why why”
I don’t know some days.. I don’t know if I will ever really know.. taking a step back.. yes I did that. I did what the Lord is asking except the one thing that opens the door to my stronghold.
My life may look in order, my life may look like I have it all together but don’t be surprised if I struggle internally with who I am and what it is the Lord wants me to become.
Matthew 22:14 says
“For many are invited but few are chosen” (HCSB)
“For many are called but few are chosen” (NASB)
A good friend said to me the other day that “The Lord Does The Hiring and He is Calling Me” but am I ready? Can I Do It? Can I make those sacrifices that are needed to be done in order to see the fulfillment of my destiny? I really don’t know anymore. I thought I was ready for what this month had in store but now I am unsure.
Just me wondering and maybe even being in self-pitty again but just Random Thoughts that are running in my head.
Handling Your Own Affairs
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You might be asking yourself, what is with all the writings this past month and really I don’t know either. I am starting to wonder myself and it is because my spirit is stirring. There has been a lot going on and a lot that has been happening.
This past week I have decided to go back to getting up early every morning (5 out of 7 days and 1 afternoon a week) and get into 2 hrs of quality time with the Lord. I decided that it was time to get my house in order. It is like the apostle Paul said in 1st Timothy 3:4-5 he said
5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s church?) (HSCB )
For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God’s church? (MSG )
5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); (KJV ) (NKJV )
For me this was a big passage. It got me to thinking that I really need to get alot of things done and get my life straight. For the past little while it seemed to me like things were getting out of control in the spiritual side. I had ask the Lord to keep me in the hidden place. I wanted everyone else around me to be put into the lime light so to speak. Well he said to me are you sure? I answered yes! He reminded me to be careful what you ask for.
Well he did it. So many times I have seen things that I thought they will ask me to do that or Pastor Derek will mention me in a sermon and BAM! It gets turned to someone else. I started to get up set and the Lord reminded me that you asked for this. I began to realize why I asked for this and started to get things in order.
The first thing I did was setup a calendar on Google and started to plot out my days so that my time with The Lord, Family and Friends were made avail. I then began to look at my ministry stuff and plot all of that in and realized I spend a lot of time at the Church , None the less I know that is where I am called to and will stick to it.
After all of that was done I realized that I still did not have enough time in there for the Lord one full afternoon a week was not enough. A prayer here a prayer there was Good but flair prayers don’t always get the job done.
Pastor Derek was teaching a series on Persistence and Diligence and talked about how he made 2 hours a day for the Lord and how that changed his life. The Lord reminded me that you used to do this. What happened to you?, Where are you my son?
So that was it! I now every morning except Tuesdays and Wednesdays get up at 5:00 – 5:30 and prepare to spend 2 hours a day with the Lord.
Now before you ask what about Tuesdays and Wednesdays, well it is like this Tuesdays my mentor has set aside for me to spend the entire afternoon in prayer and studies so that morning is free for me to get ready to come for my ministry day at This Generation and Wednesdays is my 7th day that is the day I go visit my parents, see my grandmother at the nursing home and babysit my sisters kids Lilly and Ivy (see photo on front page ) nothing interrupts that day.
How has this changed my life? well let me tell you this much, there is nothing like putting on the IHOP Live Feed and praying along side the worship and hearing what the Lord would have me pray into for my life, my friends, my family, ministry and yes even my mentor
You should try this! You do not have to do it like me but if you cannot get your own house in order how do you expect to help in the church or even mentor to others. We need to keep God first in our lives and we need to remember the important stuff in life.
So I will leave you with this thought from Matthew 16:26 it says “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (KJV )
Till Next Entry
Fruit, Good or Bad?
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This past 2 weeks have been very interesting, very fun, and very draining on my spirit and on top of that my health has been so so. But I have tonight noticed something in me that really needs some work.
I have a huge stronghold and I know is keeping me from my full true destiny in Christ and has kept me down for years now and tonight I noticed something. I only let this strong hold get the best of me when I am tired, sore or my mind is clouded from “Fibromyalga (Fibro) Fog ” now you might be asking what is that.. click the link and you will know more.
But in all of this you have to ask yourself, what is it that causes me to let my strong hold get the best of me? What hours of the day does this happen most? What is the situation that can open the door to this beating me and me not beating it?
Well I can answer all of these but during a Fibro Fog moment these questions and answers don’t matter. When I am in a fibro fog moment all of that is out the door.. nothing much makes sense to me number, thoughts, or even what is going on around me. This is when I fall most in to my strong hold.
But in saying all of that we must remember that each of us have something that can keep us down. But when do you say Enough is Enough! When do you say I want to overcome my stronghold.. When do you say I Give..
I have been saying this for years! But since my health started to decline in early 2000 this has not been an easy thing for me to over come.. I can use all the excuses I want.. I can even use my health as one of the causes.. but in the end is it not just me.. is it not just saying no I won’t let this get to me enough?
Yes and No.. somethings in our life are not that easy to say no to.. even the situation that we are in is sometimes hard to say no to.. Something so simple as a movie at a friends house, that bottle of booze on the table at dinner out with a friend.. what ever the situation we have to learn to be strong.
We have to rely on God to help us get through all the things that cause us to fall down go boom!. My Pastor, Mentor and Friend keeps me accountable in my stronghold and always reminds me of this verse from Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (NIV ) (NASB )
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (KJV )
So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty (NCV )
Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus (HCSB )
THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. (AMP )
It is a verse (in many versions listed above) that I hold dear to me every time I slip up.. Every time I fall in to the hands of my strong hold.
My Pastor and Good Friend are going to be working with me a lot in march to over come these things.. It all comes down to what my good friend (RIP) Josh Wiedrick said to me once.. “If we get rid of just the bad fruit we only get rid of the problem for a short time, but if we get rid of the root we get rid of the entire issue and the problem is gone.”
For those of you who did not get that.. I was helped to understand it this way. Think of a tree that has fruit on it but it is always coming up bad.. so you remove the rotten fruit and for a time you get good fruit. But just when you think that everything is okay.. BAM! Rotten fruit comes back on that same tree.. It you remove the root that is causing that fruit to come back time and time again you then totally remove the problem. It Reminds of me of another favorite verse from the Book Psalms Chapter 1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (NIV ) (NASB )
–
1 How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the LORD‘s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4 The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin. (HCSB )
That is what we as Christians need to do. Look at the fruit you are getting and look at the cause of the fruit. If we don’t like what we see then we need to examine ourselves and see how to change the fruit we are getting
Yes the month of march scares me because I am the type of person that has everything in order and needs to know what is coming up next. But.. this is a month of ????? I will not know what the Lord will have me do, what will my mentor have for me?, what will a month of not being in sound booth of This Gen look like? Am I Ready for this?
No I am not ready for this! but are we ever ready for this? But are we ever ready to walk into what the Lord would have us do? If we truly want to walk into the fullness of our destiny there are sacrifices that we all need to take. So Yes March scares me and Yes I wonder what will happen.. but I have to say “Here I Am Lord, Use Me!”
Till Next Entry
Entering In…
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This week has been crazy and a total write off nothing that I wanted to do or accomplish really got totally done.. yes I got some stuff done but really the stuff that was most important to me never got done.
Last Tuesday while trying to spend the afternoon studying I must have gotten interrupted two or three times.. Pastor Randy needed me, the guy I was trying to connect with finally connected with me, I got stuck on something with Ron and so fourth so I gave up.. Yes I gave up and went and got a coffee and my mentor stopped me and made a joke about the time and that is was not time to finish yet.. and even then someone stopped me to ask about WordPress stuff and I got stuck on that while I was waiting for my coffee.
I finally got back in to prayer and not 2 min into it the Lord gave me this.. I just had to share it with you and I shared it with our Worship team that night.
Today something hit me, nothing that I wanted to do went according to plan, cds, study, prayer etc.. I began to get so distracted with life and all the things that had to get done and I wanted to do that I lost my focus.
I was supposed to spend the afternoon studying and in prayer but everything around kept pulling me away and although I got some time in prayer I got nothing else done.
I began to realize that although we have things that we must get done, we must not forget to take time out for the Lord.
Now I’ll stop there for a second and tell you that this portion was given to me for our worship team at embassy | this generation and can be applied to all worship teams from any ministry and church. Okay Lets Continue
We as a worship team must not forget this one simple thing. Stay focued on him and our lives won’t seem so out of place or so busy. We can do everything perfectly, musically, technically and even vocally but… if we are not seeking the one thing what else does all the things of life matter.
As a worship team we have a greater responsibility to others because we help lead them into the presence of God and if we are not connected and grafted to the vine then how can we except others to enter in? No matter how life treats us we must as Pastor Derek would say “Focus on the Secret of One Thing” the rest will come.
An Update: I am Still Here!
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I always say this but… It has been some time since I posted any of my thoughts and or writings and that is because I have not really had anything to say or share. I mostly wanted to share the fact that The International House of Prayer was going to have there live prayer room now as a free web stream rather then paid subscription etc..
But.. now I am ready to share some things with you. Lets start off first saying I cannot believe that I have not posted since November and cannot believe that I have had nothing to say just share. Things have really changed in my life. I am now on a very strict ministry schedule and will be taking more time to spend with the Lord in prayer, studies, and meditation and really be holding to this. Yes I know things can change and that from time to time but for the most part this schedule is set in stone. (click here )
I have been really working hard on my studies in the book proverbs and really understanding so much about what proverbs is saying not only about God’s lessons but about how is applies to my life and how much I really did not know. It is amazing how God can reveal things through the various translations and version of the word. I find it interesting how one translation can word something as compared to another. I just got for Christmas The Jimmy Swaggart Expositor Study Bible in the 1611 King James version with modified words for the modern english and even that is an interesting change.
I really love the New American Standard Bible as my primary translation, but will use this closely as the secondary translation. It has so much to offer in the way of commentary and insight. Another good translation for the most part is The Message.. a modern day english translation of God’s Word. At times it translates things and you go “What The Hell” but it is in such plain english that you at times can step back and Go Dude I get it.
In all my life I have never taken more notes and written down more things about the bible. I am really finding a lot of insight about what God is saying in his word and for my life. All of my notes have been placed in a members only website that I hope some day to put out there for everyone to read. But right now this is a season for me to keep in the hidden place and let other come into their glory.
Speaking of that.. The hidden place.. what a lonely place this can be.. what a hard season this is for me to let other come into their glory or to let others do things that you know you can do but even if is is not as well as others. Web Site design is one of those things that I have trouble letting others help me with unless I want it. I some times forget that I have to sit back and let others come into their glory. I love media, web, and just general technology that I tend to want to take it all for myself. This is one of many things that the Lord has been working on changing in me.
Ministry: Most times when I get into a ministry and really start pouring myself into it and things I know I am good at and when portions of it get taken away I am easily hurt. All my life I never really had a place that I belonged to, even in high school the people that I hung out with were called the Nerd Herd and have become, were and are my closest friends.
So when something is taken away I can easily get hurt by it. This happened to me this week and I will say no more about that subject. It has happened in a few places that I am currently volunteering in. I am not looking for sympathy just another of those things the Lord is working on dealing with me.
I really enjoy what I do and when you are like me with my disabilities and all you tend to have a hard time letting people into your space and when you do find a place that you think you finally belong to you tend to hold on to it, some times way to tight. Now this could be me or it could be just us Geeks 4 God. Who knows, I just know me and who I am.
Over the last 3 years I have been privledged to work with some of the best people I have ever met. 2 years ago I had the pleasure of coming along side the Durham House of Prayer and well it was the best thing thats ever happend to me. In these last 3 years I met my mentor and friend, learned lots about ministry and learn more about prayer then I would have if I had never come along side the DHOP team. God has been good to me! I just sometimes forget it and focus on the rotten side of life.
But my personal life? What is going on there? Well not a whole lot. I have been sick off and on the last two weeks and therefore missed my last two specialist appointments. I ended up with a Chest cold that knocked me flat plus my Fibromyalgia flair ups and all the medications I am on don’t help the situation. I think that is part of the reason that things this week went the way they did.
I have also been working on getting this website’s pages finished and up and running. It’s the blog portion of the site that will be on going. I am learning alot about WordPress but if anyone knows how to take the menu and use external links to things like twitter, facebook etc.. that would be awesome. I added a great page with all of the Social Media I am connected to.. I did not realized that I am in so many places on the internet using names like matthewdykstra, mjsd, geek4god etc.. I really gotta get things together into one place and lead you out to the others. When I really sat down and looked it all over I thought to myself I am on the internet way to much and in way to many places.
This is why soon this url will be eliminated and I will be adding a domain to the mix. With its own e-mail. I just gotta find a good host for it. I just recently bought dhop.ca for the Durham House of Prayer which also owns durhamhop.com I am not totally sure how we are going to use it but I did not want to see that get taken. So I have enlisted the opinion of my friends and technical buddies to help me pick a domain for this site. I even asked them to help me pick what type of domain I am doing to use. So far 2 for .com and 1 for .ca but the name I currently want is avail in .com, .net, .org and .ca. I won’t tell you what I am looking for until I get the name that I want.
If you want to suggest a domain name for the site that would be awesome just click on the e-mail button under contact and let me know what you think.
Other then that and getting distracted I really have nothing else to chat about. If I keep going I will ramble. So I will stop here.
Till Next Entry
Serving The Lord, Serving With The Right Heart
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It has been some time since I wrote and you all must be wondering where did he go?. I am still here and Still serving the Lord but I am in a interesting season right now and I hope some day to tell you more about it.. But I got to thinking today…. so here we go…
It is Monday November 23, 2009 and I just got off a major conference with Larry Randolph and Bob Jones and I was put en-charged of over seeing the editing and duplication of all the audio/cd sermons (as well as an mp3 disc) and well I began to think
1. We just produced over 600+ cds
2. We had a great team of people who were serving with the right heart
3. Boy I need a rest LOL
But in all of that I began to think what is really serving with the right heart. I have been in ministry now for over 3 years and really it is a question that we should ask our selves on a daily basis. What is serving with the right heart.
Lately I have been pondering that in my own ministry. I have been going through a rough period and really just had to sit back and re-evaluate why I am still serving (or volunteering) in God’s House? and what are my motives? Are they personal, or selfish or self-serving or even just because my church (or place I volunteer at) needs help?. Well if you have been following my journal/blog/diary then you will know that is not the case. But in all things we must re-evaluate what we are doing.
I believe that serving (or volunteering) with the right heart looks like this
1. We want to serve Jesus/God/Christ not serve the Pastor, Preacher, Evangelist etc.. If we are just there because (put name here) needs help then we are not serving God.. We have to first want to serve God before we serve anyone else..
You see I have a great set of mentors one from embassy | this generation and one from Durham House of Prayer and both are teaching me things and both do need my help but like I stated above if I only want to help my two mentors and submit only to what they want and not what the Lord is telling me to do (both in my private time and through them) then what good am I to the Kingdom.
2. We want to further the kingdom of God on the earth.. “…On Earth as it is in Heaven Matthew 6:10 (NASB)” Everything we do should be for the greater good of furthering Gods work on the earth.
I believe that in this day and age we should have no problems with this like it says in Mark 16:14 “..Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all… (MSG)”
As a person who loves technology this is one of the best ways to Go into all the world and preach the good news. I just created a site with all of the young adult sermons in an easy to find and organized manner. So as to get the good news of what God is doing out to the nations. With the media and technology these days we can be in some remote part of the world or some small town like Bowmanville , Ontario, Canada and get the news out there.
Look at www.god.tv and see what they are doing with Media and Technology. Even look at International House of Prayer with a live 24hr prayer room feed you can at any time of the night put on the prayer room and join in with Kansas City USA right in your part of the world in Prayer.
It brings to mind a verse from Revelations 11:9 (from The Message Bible) that says “…For three and a half days they’ll be there—exposed, prevented from getting a decent burial, stared at by the curious from all over the world…” now how in this day in age will that happen.. The Media meaning internet, digital TV and satellite and many forms that we have not even seen or heard of yet.
3. What is our motives for serving the kingdom are we doing it to help (put name here) or are we doing it to get the rewards that come with serving (lunches, use of equipment we don’t have, free entry into a conference or something to do because we are disabled or have no job right now) or are we doing it because we want to serve The Kingdom..
This reminds me of a verse out of Matthew 6:5-6 Jesus was teaching his deciples how to pray he went on to say to them about doing things in public and that we should go to the secret place.. well I believe that we should be serving in the secret place meaning that first we cannot be doing our serving to be seen by man (or everyone) and to say look at me I am serving the kingdom praise me praise me.. we should just go about doing our duties and if we are never seen by man God sees us and will reward us. The portions of the verse I found went like this.. here is two versions of that verse (same portions)
New American Standard Version (NASB)
V5 “…so that they may be seen by men Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full…”
V6 “…go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you…”
The Message (MSG)
V5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?”
V6 “Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”
Yes it is nice once and a while to know that we are doing a good job by those who God placed over us such as mentors , friends, family, etc.. but really in the end it is what God thinks that totally matters. We must keep our motive pure and serve in the right heart.
What are your motives? Here are mine
Mine are simple.. Yes, I have a disability that keeps me from having a job that wants me to work a 40 hr a week. Yes I know that being in ministry is my destiny and calling .. but really it is simple.. I want to take the giftings that the Lord has blessed me with and using them to bless others. IE sermons.embassyonline.ca .
I want to get the message of Jesus/God/Christ out there for all who are not saved to know the Love and Grace that I have found. I want others to live with Joy. I want to teach others that there is more to life then just problems and the day to day stuff that we must go through. There is a God who loves us, cares for us and just wants to have a one on one relationship and help us to be in the place that he has destined for each of us.
My prayer for you all is that when you are serving or volunteering in the kingdom weather at the church, nursing home, or even going that extra un-paid mile at your work that you do. Do it with the heart of God and as a good friend always says “Do It Unto The Lord”
But remember this much.. If I have to check myself after 3 years of ministry and volunteering.. make sure you check your motives once and a while too. You would be amazed at what you find and what needs to be cleaned out.. Get rid of all those roots not just the bad fruit.. but that is an entry for another day LOL
Be Blessed!
Information, Information and More
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
I can not believe all the places on the internet that we can promote ourselves, places, groups and businesses these days I am in the process of working with my Young Adults Group embassy | this generation on getting everything up and running promotional wise and it amazed me how many places we have to promote ourselves even me. My Sace, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, Blogs, YouTube etc.. I mean just look at this and you tell me if you would be over technical
This Blog/Site: matthewdykstra.site90.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthewdykstra/
My Space: www.myspace.com/matthewjsdykstra
Facebook: www.facebook.com/matthewdykstra/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/matthewdykstraca/ and last but not least and my favorite
Last.fm: www.last.fm/user/geeks4god/
Now is there anymore ways to promote ourselves.. of course.. there are tons of knock-offs as well like godtube.com and Faith Book but most of these will never get as far as the original.They may get some fans and users but in all that we are to do we are called to be the light in a world full of darkness and so we must as Christians promote ourselves in a manner that would be Christ like and using what the world is using to promote the gospel is the way to go. Even when we promote ourselves we must do it in the same manner.. So come check me out and leave a comment or two.
Just Keep In Touch!
My Pastor Get Dunked At Carnival of Hope 2009
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Here is a great video of my young adults Pastor Derek Schneider getting dunked at the annual Carnival of Hope 2009. Pastor Derek leads our young adult group embassy | this generation at The Embassy of The Kingdom of God church in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada enjoy!
