Moving Forward: An Essay on the Impossible

It’s been a while since I just straight up told you guys (and gals) what God is doing in my life, so I figured now was a great time to do it as the school year starts to kick up. Ever since touching down on American soil again after a challenging two week trip to Costa Rica at the beginning of July my life has been radically different. I’ve gone from spending little, if any, time daily with God to desperately wanting to find more and more. I’ve been able to wake up early before work and before band and before school to read my Bible and just spend time with him. Then when I get ready to sleep at night I’ve been spending hours at a time just being with Him through Scripture and prayer. While I was in Costa Rica I was challenged by God to start to truly understand just exactly who he is, and I found a great way to do that: reading his story. So I started from the beginning, the very beginning, as in “In the beginning…” and read to the final Amen. I can’t believe that I was capable of that but I’ve seen now more clearly than ever the truth in Christ’s statement "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” in Matthew 19:26. In that past month and a half I read more Scripture than I have most likely in my entire life. My entire view on simply who God is has transformed. When he’s give the title of Redeemer, of Creator, of Father, of Shepherd; I understand just what is meant and it’s so very cool. It was a goal that I admit was unreachable by God by his grace has allowed me to achieve it and in 40 days I finished the entirety of his Word.

Now this is the part of my story where I don’t want you to just call me the super-Christian or right yourself off as someone who couldn’t ever do that. I was on that team not too long ago. I’ve never been able to have consistent devotionals or frankly spend a solid amount of time with God, it has and will continue to be a struggle in my life I can admit that. But all it takes is faith. The difference between belief and faith, to quote Brennan Manning in The Signature of Jesus is this: “faith is not the sum of our beliefs or a way of speaking or a way of thinking; it is a way of living and can be articulated only in a living practice.” It’s one thing to believe that Jesus died for ours sins; It is quite another to have faith that his deliverance will continue to support you to this very day and to act on his grace, not hoard it to ourselves. I would equate our spiritual journey to physical conditioning. When you exercise and train for something, we condition our body, we make it stronger. As our muscles strain and stretch we now have a higher threshold of strength and ability that we would not have had if we didn’t intentionally focus on strengthening that specific muscle. It is just so in our walk with Christ, if we don’t focus on strengthening our relationship with him then we will be left at a standstill, maybe not on the lowest level, but certainly within reach of improvement, and all it takes to grow is the will to know him.

That being mentioned: all of us are at different levels in our walk with the Lord. Some of us might be ready to drop everything and become a missionary to Africa tomorrow, some might just feel comfortable with picking up the bible every other day and reading a chapter or two, and that is okay! God didn’t call us to be perfect; he called us to be in a relationship with him. Like with our everyday friends, the more time we spend with them the more comfortable we are with them and the more we’re willing to sacrifice for them. God wants to take each of us to whatever our next level is; he see’s the potential he has put in all of us and is eager to show us the next step on the ladder. A lot of us (me particularly) might be worried about the future, about what college we’ll go to, about what we’re going to do in life, about whether or not we should do track this year, about who to marry, etc. In Matthew 6:27 Jesus says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” The answer: none of us. God doesn’t promise to reveal our entire life story before us today, but he does tell us that he will show us where our next step is. Psalm 119:105 says this, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” So take the next step, and have faith that God will guide you on the rest.

As this school year continues to progress I challenge all of us to live out our faith. I want to see our campuses, our workplaces, our churches; filled with the fire of the followers of Christ in action. The next step is this: go to Jesus, ask him what the next step is for you personally. If you don’t feel like he’s answering you, start with what you know is true, go to Scripture and I promise you this; if you read his Word and spend time with him, he will beyond a shadow of a doubt reveal himself to you. This year get to know God, and then you will be able to show his ridiculous love to others. Stand Firm. Feel free to get in contact with me and I’d be glad to help you get started or point you to someone that can. In Christ

-matt

Senior Year: An Essay on Impact

Buckle up gang, and here we go. It’s time for yet another school year to start. More teachers. More classes. More homework. And yet, something is different. I venture into this new era of my life as a new man. During this summer God has rapidly transformed me from someone who wanted to know God (but also wanted other things) into a man totally dependant on the Rock, thirsty for His Word all the time. I enter this year no longer the same person I once was, and because of this, I am able to expect different results.

Last year I was a part of a lot of things, and I had a lot of fun, but I’m not quite sure where the eternal impact was. That’s a phrase we threw around a lot this summer. How can we truly make a difference in the lives of our peers and in our own hearts? So this year I pledge myself to live by that higher standard, to answer Christ’s call when he charges us in Luke 12:48. He says, “… From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

What does that mean? It means that I am being held at a higher standard. I’ve seen God’s provision for my life and I know that this year He expects great things from me. I just found out last week that a scheduling conflict is forcing me to drop what would have been my hardest class, allowing me to move into an easier one that will still be worthwhile I think. Through that and other experiences this summer God has just made it clear to me that this year, my senior year, is supposed to make a splash. School is a part of it yes, but the ultimate goal is this: to make more and stronger disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ says in Matthew 12:34 that out of an overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. So hear my heart. My desire is to evoke change, to “move the team” if you will. I want to take myself and those around me to a whole new level in our relationships with the Lord. In the words of the Babe from Sandlot, “Heroes get remembered but legends never die.” I want to make my mark. I want my life to radiate Christ with such a passion that my zeal for my Maker will overflow into all aspects of my life and every relationship. I’m not living so that people will remember Matt Bartlett, the local Jesus Freak, but rather I want others to see God’s love made physical through my life. I want to share the Gospel with not just my lips, but also my actions.

This started with me humbling myself before God, admitting that I cannot do anything without him. This ends with me sitting exalted at the throne, sitting side by side with the Lord of Creation, God Almighty himself. This is my senior year. I’m living with no regrets. I’m finishing strong. Never this year will I remember back to a time that I wasted an opportunity, failed to chase after the one who perpetually chases after me.

To all of you who are Seniors this year. Don’t waste this chance. We only have one life to live. Don’t look back at high school a decade from now and wish that it could have been different. “Greater things are still to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city” are the some great lyrics penned by Chris Tomlin. Do you believe it? Do you believe that you’re life is capable of changing others eternity, of impacting literally the entire world for Jesus? You can. Each and every one of you can set the world on fire for Christ. As LeaderTreks says, the first step to becoming a leader is believing you are one. If you believe in yourself, in the man/woman that God has created for a purpose, his purpose, then you will be an instrument of the Holy God, ready to impact everyone around you. I urge you not to waste this chance, to waste a year where “the world is your oyster,” where you are king of the jungle and have influence beyond your wildest imaginations. Change your school, change your friends, change your life. Take your relationship with Christ seriously. He died for your life, all of it, for you to spend all of eternity in communion with Him. And most of us spend maybe 20 minutes a day with Him. We don’t meditate on his Word, and we don’t pray continuously or even often for that matter. Christ didn’t die so we could give him our mediocre attempt at spirituality. Sure we’re all wrecks, no of us are perfect, but he deserves all we can muster. Get to know the one who knitted you together in your mother’s womb. Who planned every step you would take before you took them. Who created you with a purpose. Live your life for the one who sent you.

To all non-seniors; don’t wait. Don’t wait for senior year to “turn it on” so-to-speak. Don’t waste your time you have now that you could be running for Jesus. Once you get on his team start being that champion he calls us to be. Use your years that you have now to latch on to Christ and to build that relationship up further and further, be infatuated by His grace and desperate to be in His love. By the time you get to senior year you will have an even greater platform from which you are able to minister from. God calls each one of us to ministry, so get out there and go.
I leave you all with a set of verses and a parting word or two. Matthew 28:18-20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” God is with us. He has commissioned us to set this earth on fire for him. Lets live it out. Make today a day worth remembering, a day spent chasing after the King of Kings. Amen.
-matt

Restored

Above all, You are the light

the world is Yours.

I have nothing to fear.

So why am I afraid.

I am inadequate.

You love me.

I ambandoned you.

You chased me.

I cursed you.

You held me.

Please don't give me what I deserve.

I need grace.

I always need grace.

So why do I forget you?

I'm a mess, God.

You are the author of life.

My story is not complete.

In the final chapter

we meet in heaven

restored.

-matt