April 29, 2008 by Matt.

Some of you may remember me mentioning what I am calling the Church Unity Project. Well, I am asking now that you will pray for me in this venture as I am preparing to start reaching out to churches in my area with this mission.

In Ephesians 4:1-6 Paul says, “There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT - just as you were called to ONE HOPE when you were called - ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD AND FATHER….”

This is what drives me to reach out to local churches in hopes of uniting so that the people of our community could see the Love of Jesus. Jesus left heaven where he had riches that we can not even fathom, to save us. He left all the riches and glory of heaven to become poor, even by biblical standards. He did this out of a generosity that longed to see none of his creation go to Hell. If he was willing to leave all of that to come to earth to be poor and with the knowledge that he was going to die on the cross, why are we not reaching out with the love and generosity of Jesus and meeting the needs of our community.

Now with all this talk of One body, etc. I am not trying to say that all churches should be the same. Paul wrote letters to 7 different churches. If all churches were intended to be the same then he could have sent one letter, sent it via bulk rate mass mailing and saved a bundle on postage. But, he didn’t do that. Paul recognized that each church faced unique struggles and was comprised of unique people yet, he wrote that we were all One Body.

So, I am still not sure what God has planned for Matt Norman, but what I do know is that those that labor for the Lord never labor in vain, the Bible says so. I also believe that God has given me the vision for the Church Unity Project. So, if I labor for the Lord and begin to work towards the vision that he has given me, then I believe my labor will be fruitful. Besides, Paul also said that we are but the planters and waterers of seeds, but that God provides the increase. So, the pressure is off of me. All I have to do is love on people and tell them about the wonderful things that God has done for me, and leave the rest to God. I also don’t think I can handle the thought of the opportunities I might miss, and the people that I may not get to minister to if I wait around for that bolt of lightening that tells me it’s time.

So, I beg your prayers. I believe that God has given me a vision; and with this vision I believe he has given me a message. Part of the vision that God has given me includes me delivering his message about church unity to the churches that I reach out to. I have never delivered such a message (unless you include the youth service I preached at when I was 15; the recording of which could have been mistaken for an obscene phone call), and I have never received any formal training in how to prepare or deliver a sermon. However, I believe that God has given me a message that he wants me to deliver in person. My heart begins to pound as I type this, both at the thought of delivering this message and even at the thought of typing this on here. As I type I can hear the enemy whispering in my ear…”What is your pastor going to think if he hears about this?” “You can’t deliver any message you haven’t even been to seminary.” “Just because your father was a preacher doesn’t make you one.” “What makes you think that people are going to let you come into THEIR church and deliver YOUR message?” “What are you going to do if people don’t like the way you deliver this so called message?” “How do you know this message is even from God?” “Maybe you should just wait a little longer,,, you know so you can be sure this is a God given vision.” “Are you sure this message is actually from God and not just a matter of your own personal pride?”(this is a good one as the enemy knows that pride is my biggest downfall).

Well, I think Jesus said it best after being tempted by the devil, “Away from me Satan! For it is written worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10). Well, that is exactly what I intend to do. I am going to worship the Lord my God and I am going to serve him; even if it means stepping outside my comfort zone and doing something I have never done before and have never been trained to do.

So, again, I ask you to pray.

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April 28, 2008 by Matt.

Hey guys, I just wanted to post a line to let you know that I am still here. I am really busy and I am getting ready to start moving in a new direction on some things. I will give more about that later, but I ask for your prayers. Thanks.

 Stay tuned as there will be more coming.

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April 5, 2008 by Matt.

As of this morning my 40 days is over. So, don’t bother me I have TV to watch. Just kidding, sort of.

So, what has this time taught me? Well, I can honestly say that I am not the same person I was 6 weeks ago. I have found that I actually look forward to study time. I crave bible study. I spend much of my time thinking of what I have read and wondering what God will reveal to me in the next session. God has revealed many things about myself and my ministry. Some of these things have not been easy for me. Of course when we are given a brief glimpse of ourselves from a Godly perspective, it often isn’t going to be easy. Did God answer all of my questions? Not exactly. I still am not sure what God has planned for me, but what I do know is that I am not ready for the next step and when I am ready he will make the path clear. So, till then I will continue to study and prepare myself. Now that doesn’t mean that I will be just sitting around and waiting. There are a number of things I will be doing in the mean time. Am I branching out on my own? No, I don’t think so. While God has not revealed the ultimate plan for me, he has revealed some areas of service that I will be moving towards. Maybe those areas are the next step, or perhaps they will lead to the next step. Only God knows for certain, but I know that he does not intend for me to sit around growing mold while I wait for a Saul type experience, or for Moses’ burning bush. While God can still use these kinds of things and occasionally does use miraculous happenings to communicate to us, chances are this is not going to be how he chooses to direct me. So, I will serve and I will watch. Watch for other opportunities to serve, watch for God’s direction and watch for opportunities to minster to those around me.

I had some one ask me this week if I thought I would be returning to my old ways. I thought about it for a brief moment, and you know I don’t think I will be. I don’t mean that I will never watch TV or surf the net again, but what I do mean is that I will not be coming home from work and instantly turning on the TV only to spend the next 6 hours or more sitting there in front of the TV. I have really come to enjoy the time I spend reading, and studying when I get home from work. What better way to wind down from the day then to spend some time in the word.

So, I hope that during my 40 days that I have been able to inspire some others. If you have never taken the time to look around you and identify your distractions I challenge you to do so. Take a sheet of paper and spend some time thinking of all the things you do that prevent you from spending time in study or in prayer. As you identify these things, write them down. Determine which of these items can be removed from your life in order to make time for God. Then determine which ones could be minimized. Are you spending 6 hours a day watching television as I was, if those there is an easy one to minimize. Then look at what is left and think of how those things that can not be removed from your life, such as work, can be done for the glory of God. I read some thing that Rick Warren wrote that really struck me. While discussing worship in “The Purpose Driven Life” Warren said, “If it is offered to God in spirit and in truth, it is an act of worship.” What he is saying is that anything we do can be an act of worship if we offer it to God “in spirit and in truth.” This is where those things that can not be removed from our lists come in. 1 Corinthians 10:31(KJV) says, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all for the Glory of God.” Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” So, even the things that can not be removed from your list can still be done for the glory of God. In fact the Bible tells us that we should do everything as if we were doing it for Jesus. When you are done marking things off your list, minimizing others and thinking of how you can do others for the glory of God, keep that list around come back to it every now and then and see if you are still be true to the plan you made to spend more time with God. Thank is my challenge to you this time, find what is distracting you from God and do something about it.

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