Powerless

The power went out in my neighbourhood today for a few hours.
I came home in the dark, to a dark apartment.  And since there was no power, I simply (using my iPhone as night light) went to the washroom to pee, dropped off my stuff and went to cell.
I was thinking, briefly, about the scripture in the Bible where it says, "in our weakness he is strong," or in the NLT, "My power works best in weakness."  Paul then goes on to say how he rejoices in his weakness so that Christ's power can do it's thing.
I began to think of the parallel at work in the High Park area.  Here we are, here I am, and I have no power of my own.  I'm incapable of doing anything, really.  There's no power to do it with.  I'm completely devoid of it.  That was when I felt the Holy Spirit remind me of that passage.  I was totally at peace.  I knew that everything was going to be okay.  I mean, it's not like a power outage in Toronto is ever that big a deal, they don't generally last long, and I had to go out and have cell anyway, but I was just reminded of how God has all the power I need.  I have power, yes, but only through him.  HE is my power.  Without him, I'm powerless, hopeless.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that.  Remember to enjoy your powerlessness and embrace his power (which becomes yours, yes, but you get the point).

As...

As a creation, made by God my Creator, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm doing something creative.

As a lover, in relationship with God who is Love, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm giving or getting love.

As an intellectual being, learning from God who is Truth, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm discovering something new.

As a man and a warrior, in service to God my Great Warrior and King, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm fighting for goodness and righteousness.

As a leader, under the authority of God my Leader, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm leading someone or something deeper into a life-changing, world-changing movement.

As a servant, in debt to God my (kind) Master, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm serving someone in their moment of need or greatness.

As a redeemed, righteous temple for Holy Spirit, the spirit of God, I can't help but feel a little more like him when I'm choosing righteousness over compromise.

As Matt Mitchell, the Matt Mitchell who is in and of and one with God, I can't help but feel a little more like him, when I'm becoming more and more the Matt Mitchell I'm made to be.

Genesis 1:27a - "So God created human beings in his own image." (NLT)

Esther 4:14b - "And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion" (AMP)

Acts 17:27-28 - "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" (NIV)

Ephesians 5:1 - "Imitate God therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children." (NLT)

Redemption

the harder the attack, the greater is the victory
the more devastating the loss, the better is the redemption
the dryer the desert, the more bountiful is the harvest
the deeper the persecution, the more beautiful is the reward
the darker the path, the brighter is the future
the tougher the season, the more joyous is the breakthrough
the more painful the death, the greater is the resurrection

Matt

The Law

I was on the bus today, thinking about how driving and how some people
just do stupid, sometimes illegal things. I thought about how one of
the typical "road ragey" driver lines for such an instance is,
"doesn't he know how to drive!? Doesn't he know the law!?"
It's funny how people understand why the government makes laws to help
protect us and keep us safe, to keep society on track, so to speak.
Than I thought about how God has done the same thing with laws for us
for life and yet people don't seem to get that.
It's interesting how people look at God's laws. I think people see
them as something to be obtained, as though the completion and
obedience of the law is the destination of life, the outcome. Again, I
wondered how people don't make the connection. The laws of the road
aren't our destination, they're guidelines to help us (everyone) get
to our destination. It's the same with God's laws. Obeying his
commandments isn't our goal as Christians or humans, obeying his
commandments is a tool to help us to get there successfully. The
destination is intimate relationship with him.
As Bobby Conner would say, "Ain't he good!"

Matt

As the season changes

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. Lots has happened in a short amount of time, I suppose. I'll start with the biggest piece of Matt Mitchell news...

I've been wanting to move out for a while and started pursuing different options to see what I could do. A member of my family offered to give me first and last months' rent, which totally enabled me to move, so I just needed to find roommate(s) and a place that I could afford. It wasn't looking all that great, to be honest. I was looking in the Bloor West/High Park/Roncesvalles area and wasn't having much luck in finding something affordable that worked for me and the potential roomies. A friend of mine recommended another friend of mine (the awesome James Sangster) to me who was looking to move out at the same time. I contacted James and we saw a couple places, neither of which really had us. We decided to let them drop and not apply for them, believing God had better for us. Then we found a great place across from High Park for a deal we couldn't pass up. We loved it upon seeing it and decided to apply. All in all, we were signed and locked in in four days!

God is so good. He totally got a deal for me and James that worked for the both of us financially and otherwise. I'm so incredibly blessed and thankful to be living where I am, in this amazing apartment with an awesome man of God for a roommate. I love the neighbourhood. It has tonnes of great pubs, restaurants, coffee/tea shops, bakeries, fruit markets, and other great stuff. A lot of my friends are also in the area, and I love living near them and being a part of a community with them- a part of a community I want to build and grow and expand. I look forward to the next year or more living here and will certainly have lots more to blog about over that time. I'm looking forward to meeting my neighbours and telling them about what I do and who I am and about how awesome Jesus is. I'm looking forward to learning to cook new things for myself and organize my life and finances further. I'm looking forward to growing in relationship with James as a roommate and friend. I'm looking forward to having people over and learning about being a good host. I'm looking forward to using this place as a medium make people feel welcome and loved. I'm looking forward to the ways that God is going to stretch and grow me as a person providing for himself. I'm looking forward to experiencing a whole new stage of life, basically, and God is totally awesome in helping me through all this.

Speaking of new life stages, with the sudden change in weather, I'm reminded of how everything is different from one season to another. It's much like this with life (Mark and Beth Hardy preached an AWESOME last message on this kind of thing at TACF North York on Sunday). It's so very different living away from home than it was with my family. It feels amazing. I'm so thankful to God for this change of season in my life, because He's doing amazing things in my heart and is totally showing me his goodness in this season and I feel happier than I have in a long time. Through this and other things he's done and is doing, He's really done a lot in my heart. He's really put to rest a lot of my fear and doubt and frustration and anger and sadness. He's really showed me that he does still love me and want to help me out. And He's put a new spark of love in my heart.
Sure, it's tighter financially. Moving costs money and I don't have as much pocket money as I used to, but God is teaching me wisdom with my money, and I'm doing my part to walk that wisdom out. Part of this move is based in faith, so I'm really excited to see how God opens doors and shows me his providence and favour as I've stepped into a new time in my life that he's called me to.

People keep asking me how I'm doing, and I just can't help but answer, "Excellent! Really excellent!"

Thank you so much Jesus for the shower of blessings you've poured on me!

And thanks to all of you who were praying for me when I was looking for a place and calling out to God to come and show me his goodness and move in a big way in my life. He's definitely come through with more than I could've asked for.

Anyway, I'm off for now.

Cheers!

Matt

"Heart Knowledge"

We use a lot of buzzwords around the church, especially at TACF. It's not a bad thing, it's just funny how many there are. One of the phrases we use is "knowing something in your heart." This is different from knowing something in your head. Here's how:

You can know something in your head, but not live a life that shows that you believe that is true. You can know it in your head, but have no real depth of understanding in it. You can know it in your head, but have no feeling of certainty in your heart. Does this make sense? Do you get me here? (most of you probably will, as you've probably heard it before.)

Recently, a lot of things that used to be heart knowledge seemed to have been shaken in their place and are now sitting in the "head knowledge" realm. It's been really unsettling. I went through a few weeks where I was progressively struggling more and more with simple beliefs and feelings and truths that gave me much strength and comfort. This started to cause a lot of trouble in my relationship with God. I don't know if these things were being shaken so that they can be resettled with more conviction, more truth, more revelation. I'm not sure. I'm still kind of trying to get them back there. Truth be told, even though things are starting to feel better, I'm still not quite sure of these things that have been losing hold. I'm not quite sure I even remember the process of translating knowledge from head to heart. I've forgotten how that twelve-ish inch journey is made. I think, for things having to do with God, it requires the Holy Spirit. Maybe I need more of Holy Spirit?

It's scary when all of the sudden God's love is just a piece of knowledge and not a place in your heart. It's scary when your identity in him is suddenly a matter of fact and not a matter of confidence. It's really hard when his goodness is an idea and not a comfort. When you feel abandoned and lonely and separated from his presence, his voice, his heart, his love, what do you do? It's even harder when you feel like you don't have people to turn to. And at this point, even the people you do have to turn to seem far away, and your views of God and yourself and your friends are all skewed by the turmoil of your heart.

What's one to do? I guess you just have to truck through. I don't know how to give up on God. I know how it feels to want to, but I don't know how to actually do it. To abandon him completely doesn't seem like something I can wrap my heard around.

I'm still waiting for a lot of this to settle again, it all still seems in transit somewhere. Lost, fragmented, and hurt. But even if in my heart I don't feel it, something in me, even if it's just head knowledge, knows he's good and he loves me. Let's see how God uses that to build my heart.

How about you? Do you know how this feels? Has God been shaking your heart knowledge? Or maybe your head knowledge? Or maybe even everything you know?