Ladies and gentlemen, I Ryan Matthews am being published for the first time! One of poems, aptly titled "An American Mourning" (nice pun huh?) is going to be in VCU's own Amendment journal. They have also asked me to submit a short fiction piece if I would like.
The poem was written when I was reading a ton of T.S. Eliot, which gives the poem an air of desperation/gloom on the way our generation acts.
Life has been great, moving in an ebb and flow of lifeless monotony, never ceasing. I haven't found many things enthralling lately, except that my roommate has grown a passion for English football! I hope you have a great day, and I'll send some thoughts on this after the school work slows a bit.
Faith Shakers
Labels:
Christian thoughts
Christ has restored a thought that can plague many a weary soul. I have found that a common question among Christians and non-Christians alike is the "why is this happening to me?!" question. For example, I have found that it is quite easy to get sidetracked with my own thoughts when it comes to my future.
"Holy Pete! I'm gonna be a husband! Am I ready to be what Liz needs me to be? Will I be a great Dad?"
"Will I get into a Grad School that Liz does as well?"
"Am I a man by my standards, God's standards, or societies?"
Though these feeling can seem legitimate, they are also what I'll call "faith shakers". In one light, these "faith shakers" seem innocent; a mere thought floating by the vast expanse of constant conscious thought. However, what happens when these thoughts are entertained? Well many things end up happening. You become anxious, worried, or even depressed if these thoughts are doubts/fears. These feelings are hard to place, and they even seem hard to get rid of. If they become too hard to handle you may even resort to bad outlets: suicidal thoughts, drugs, alcohol, pornography. What was once a small thought that was entertained with your faith shaken has ended with the road going in the wrong direction.
How does this happen?
1 Peter 5:8 says "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"
O.K. so if he prowls like a lion and looking for someone to devour, so what?
Well, to put it frankly, the thoughts that are entertained that have lead you into a path of what feels like an uncomprimising situation was never a thought that you had. Did you ever want to feel left out? Torn up? Broken down? Of course not! However, here you are feeling "stuck" you "faith shaken".
When Paul talks of the Armor of God to the Ephesians he explains that the truth about all of the battles that we face are "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12 KJV). So get this, the guy at work your struggling to not hate? that woman you lust after? These aren't just thoughts. They are also battles occurring in the spiritual level of things as well.
So if Satan wants to devour your life, and the battles you fight are not flesh battles but are actually a battle for your soul, how do you fight them off? Paul answers that as well when he talks of the armor of God. Among all the implements that represent this armor, Paul talks of the Shield of FAITH. And guess what its purpose is? "In addition to all this, take up the shield of FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16 NIV). With this shield of faith, you can fight back all of the attacks the enemy can throw at you.
"It feels hard"
Well, it never was supposed to be easy. In fact, as a Christian, I feel that my life has been harder than it ever was without Christ. However, the payoff that I get is so much greater than any pain here on Earth. And as a Christian, the simple answer to any thing that comes to my mind can be answered in such a way to give glory to the one that means the most to me.
"What if I don't go into Grad School?"
Well, God has something better in store for me. He tells me this in Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'".
Christ used faith in God and scipture to back it up when he was in the wilderness and tempted by Satan. In this same light, we should also be doing the same thing. (see Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13)
My prayer for you is that God will shine His love on you in such a way that His uncomprimising faith becomes established in you. May you not be shaken by the enemy, but be established and confident in the strength of our God. May your faith and the Holy Spirit be your guidance in a world full of excuses and wickedness. If you need help, a friend, a prayer you know where I am, and you know where He is too. I love you and may God bless you week.
"Holy Pete! I'm gonna be a husband! Am I ready to be what Liz needs me to be? Will I be a great Dad?"
"Will I get into a Grad School that Liz does as well?"
"Am I a man by my standards, God's standards, or societies?"
Though these feeling can seem legitimate, they are also what I'll call "faith shakers". In one light, these "faith shakers" seem innocent; a mere thought floating by the vast expanse of constant conscious thought. However, what happens when these thoughts are entertained? Well many things end up happening. You become anxious, worried, or even depressed if these thoughts are doubts/fears. These feelings are hard to place, and they even seem hard to get rid of. If they become too hard to handle you may even resort to bad outlets: suicidal thoughts, drugs, alcohol, pornography. What was once a small thought that was entertained with your faith shaken has ended with the road going in the wrong direction.
How does this happen?
1 Peter 5:8 says "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"
O.K. so if he prowls like a lion and looking for someone to devour, so what?
Well, to put it frankly, the thoughts that are entertained that have lead you into a path of what feels like an uncomprimising situation was never a thought that you had. Did you ever want to feel left out? Torn up? Broken down? Of course not! However, here you are feeling "stuck" you "faith shaken".
When Paul talks of the Armor of God to the Ephesians he explains that the truth about all of the battles that we face are "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12 KJV). So get this, the guy at work your struggling to not hate? that woman you lust after? These aren't just thoughts. They are also battles occurring in the spiritual level of things as well.
So if Satan wants to devour your life, and the battles you fight are not flesh battles but are actually a battle for your soul, how do you fight them off? Paul answers that as well when he talks of the armor of God. Among all the implements that represent this armor, Paul talks of the Shield of FAITH. And guess what its purpose is? "In addition to all this, take up the shield of FAITH, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16 NIV). With this shield of faith, you can fight back all of the attacks the enemy can throw at you.
"It feels hard"
Well, it never was supposed to be easy. In fact, as a Christian, I feel that my life has been harder than it ever was without Christ. However, the payoff that I get is so much greater than any pain here on Earth. And as a Christian, the simple answer to any thing that comes to my mind can be answered in such a way to give glory to the one that means the most to me.
"What if I don't go into Grad School?"
Well, God has something better in store for me. He tells me this in Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'".
Christ used faith in God and scipture to back it up when he was in the wilderness and tempted by Satan. In this same light, we should also be doing the same thing. (see Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13)
My prayer for you is that God will shine His love on you in such a way that His uncomprimising faith becomes established in you. May you not be shaken by the enemy, but be established and confident in the strength of our God. May your faith and the Holy Spirit be your guidance in a world full of excuses and wickedness. If you need help, a friend, a prayer you know where I am, and you know where He is too. I love you and may God bless you week.
2
Thoughts on my thoughts
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Tongue is Powerful Indeed
Labels:
Christian thoughts
The words that we use on a daily basis have a profound impact on how we live our life daily. This is something that I have learned today. I don't want anyone to think that I am getting preachy, but I'm not afraid to lay my experiences on the floor before you. I admit that I can curse like a sailor. Sometimes it'll come in strong spurts, and others will come when I least expect it (ie: missing a shot on goal during a friendly soccer match or when I'm in a disagreement with someone I love). The big part of the problem is that though I don't like it I have never really felt that wrong about how my language is conducted. Today, however, I have been humbled by God.
Never did I think that there was a scripture (let alone a whole chapter) devoted on the words a person speaks. It would be a lie if I were to tell you that I have never heard a pastor or christian brother say that my words have an effect on everyone around me and myself. However, I held onto a lie that was rooted that I never found a scripture on it. Well, that's where I found myself a few hours ago. I yelled at someone with malice in my voice, and when I stopped I couldn't believe what I said and how it was conducted. Immediately after my epiphany, I prayed that He would guide me into a position that would make me harder to curse and be angry.
Last Sunday Pastor Mark of Light of Life ministries quoted James 1:19: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" so I figured this was a good starting point. I had no clue what was coming in the third chapter: an entire section devoted directly to how a person speaks to others. I became immediately humbled and repented to God of my past verbage, and now I want to apologize to any of you who read this and I have said something lacking love in it. It was never my intention to hurt, but I know that my words when used negatively have that potential.
In James 3:9 & 10, we learn that " 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be". Taking this into account it is my prayer that God takes my heart and keeps it steadfast in the ways in which I speak to others. May it be a way to glorify Him and give Him honor and praise. May you also share love in your speech and cast off the negativity in your own use of words. The following video is one I found of a Christian group that does a nice illustration on how this scripture is played out. It's funny to me though...I never realised that I have done exactly what these characters did, and it helped me in my resolve in talking with compassion and not hate, love and not anger. If you want to see it click here...and may He shine upon you this week. I love you with a deep heart, and if you need anything, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help.
Never did I think that there was a scripture (let alone a whole chapter) devoted on the words a person speaks. It would be a lie if I were to tell you that I have never heard a pastor or christian brother say that my words have an effect on everyone around me and myself. However, I held onto a lie that was rooted that I never found a scripture on it. Well, that's where I found myself a few hours ago. I yelled at someone with malice in my voice, and when I stopped I couldn't believe what I said and how it was conducted. Immediately after my epiphany, I prayed that He would guide me into a position that would make me harder to curse and be angry.
Last Sunday Pastor Mark of Light of Life ministries quoted James 1:19: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" so I figured this was a good starting point. I had no clue what was coming in the third chapter: an entire section devoted directly to how a person speaks to others. I became immediately humbled and repented to God of my past verbage, and now I want to apologize to any of you who read this and I have said something lacking love in it. It was never my intention to hurt, but I know that my words when used negatively have that potential.
In James 3:9 & 10, we learn that " 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be". Taking this into account it is my prayer that God takes my heart and keeps it steadfast in the ways in which I speak to others. May it be a way to glorify Him and give Him honor and praise. May you also share love in your speech and cast off the negativity in your own use of words. The following video is one I found of a Christian group that does a nice illustration on how this scripture is played out. It's funny to me though...I never realised that I have done exactly what these characters did, and it helped me in my resolve in talking with compassion and not hate, love and not anger. If you want to see it click here...and may He shine upon you this week. I love you with a deep heart, and if you need anything, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help.
0
Thoughts on my thoughts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
A Powerful Pastor
Labels:
Ramblings
What is the most annoying thing to you? Mine right now is this cut on my lower lip that is split because they're chapped. Ergh! Why do these odd things always seem to happen to me?
The past couple of days have bee slowly mushing along without much change. I saw on the weather channel that Richmond has the possibility of snow! If this happens, my week would be awesome and somewhat complete. Gosh, I sure hope it snows.
My favorite highlight of the past week has been hanging out with Liz as much as I have been able. Last year was a conglomeration of many odd work shifts and boredom. Now though we ave been able to maintain a somewhat groove of things that really fits our personality. We look forward to our backgammon games and Starbucks study sessions. In fact, if we don't do one in a week, it begins to feel odd without it.
I've been listening to Kris Vallotton a lot. He is a pastor from Bethel Church in Redding, California. Every single time he preaches, it seems as if God is talking about my exact situation I'm going through via his sermon. Whenever I hear him speak I can't help think of Crush the turtle preaching (you know, the sea turtle from Finding Nemo? he has a surfer accent in my mind). Anyways, I love what Bethel Church is doing and the scriptual/spiritual message they are spreading. My faith has quadrupled since listening to this church. You can find their weekly message on ITunes, and I suggest you do.
Kris, if you ever end up reading this, my fiance and I are actually planning on flying from Virginia to Redding for our honeymoon just to see Bethel and to see if you won't pray specifically with us. If this is possible, please get a hold of me through this or my facebook. You're awesome, dude!
Anyways, May God keep you in His ever-abiding love my friends. And may your day be fruitful in love and life!
The past couple of days have bee slowly mushing along without much change. I saw on the weather channel that Richmond has the possibility of snow! If this happens, my week would be awesome and somewhat complete. Gosh, I sure hope it snows.
My favorite highlight of the past week has been hanging out with Liz as much as I have been able. Last year was a conglomeration of many odd work shifts and boredom. Now though we ave been able to maintain a somewhat groove of things that really fits our personality. We look forward to our backgammon games and Starbucks study sessions. In fact, if we don't do one in a week, it begins to feel odd without it.
I've been listening to Kris Vallotton a lot. He is a pastor from Bethel Church in Redding, California. Every single time he preaches, it seems as if God is talking about my exact situation I'm going through via his sermon. Whenever I hear him speak I can't help think of Crush the turtle preaching (you know, the sea turtle from Finding Nemo? he has a surfer accent in my mind). Anyways, I love what Bethel Church is doing and the scriptual/spiritual message they are spreading. My faith has quadrupled since listening to this church. You can find their weekly message on ITunes, and I suggest you do.
Kris, if you ever end up reading this, my fiance and I are actually planning on flying from Virginia to Redding for our honeymoon just to see Bethel and to see if you won't pray specifically with us. If this is possible, please get a hold of me through this or my facebook. You're awesome, dude!
Anyways, May God keep you in His ever-abiding love my friends. And may your day be fruitful in love and life!
0
Thoughts on my thoughts
Monday, February 2, 2009
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