Lesson #1:  You’re here to learn, not to be proven correct.
When I began my college career, I had been convinced of my calling for over two years.  I had prepared and studied so much in high school.  I was in Bible Drill as a kid, Youth Bible Drill in middle school, and Youth Speaker’s Tournament in high school.  I was nerdy and arrogant.  In my first semester, I was simply looking for confirmation in the things I already knew.  Blinded by my own ego, it took a mediocre first semester and a slew of stupid mistakes before I realized that I didn’t have all the answers.

Studying theology is different than studying math or science.  You come into it with preconceived ideas of how ministry should be approached, who God is, and how to understand his Word.  Furthermore, if you’re truly growing as a Christian, your heart will be wrapped around your mental understanding of it all.

If your hypothesis is wrong in chemistry, it is just part of the learning process.  But if your interpretation is wrong in theology, it feels deeply personal.  So many of our thoughts about Christ are forged through sentimental memories with our parents or Sunday School teachers.  A good seminary or university will force you to take all of those beliefs apart and re-examine them.  In other words, your professor’s first task will be to shatter your world.  He or she won’t do this out of spite, anger, or malice.  It will be out of love.  Your job is to let God break and shape your perception of Him and your approach to ministry.

No matter how experienced or mature, a great minister never stops learning.  My prayer is that God will grant you the humility to approach your education with an open heart.  Draw close to the professors who challenge and frustrate you the most.  Engage in open dialog with other students around you. Don’t fear or avoid disagreement and be willing to be proven wrong.  Your ability to grasp this will have profound implications for the quality of your education and the effectiveness of your future ministry.  If your pride is never removed from the equation, you may even fail to launch altogether.

Before the first day of class…
1.) Write a personal statement of faith. Include your theology of God, his Word, mankind, sin, and the Church.  Make it as detailed as possible.

2.) Do the same for your philosophy of ministry. How will you reach people?  What does a healthy church look like?  How do you plan to survive the pressures of church leadership?

3.) Assess your calling.  What do you believe God is calling you to do?  What must you learn in these early years to prepare for the future?  What are you strengths?  Your weaknesses?  Where can you grow?

4.) Perform triage on these beliefs, philosophies and assessments.  Which of these points are essential to your faith?  Which can be tweaked a little bit?  Which ones are simply good for a fun debate?  Which ones do you question?

5.) Print it out and take it with you.  Throughout your first year, take notes as you learn more.  After you’ve completed each semester, look back and assess how your beliefs and opinions have changed.  How have you grown?  If you disagree with your education, why?

5.) Finally, pray.  Ask God for humility and wisdom.  Ask him to prepare you for the days ahead and for the motivation to finish strong.  Pray that he becomes your ultimate guide and that his Word will be made clear.

The youth ministry at South Oaks is in the middle of a rough transition.  After a long tenure, their youth minister felt called into a different church and resigned several months ago.  From everything I hear, this was a great guy who the students loved.  A friend of mine from college, Cami Jones, has been serving as the youth associate and is now the acting youth minister.  I’ve known Cami for several years and I’m so impressed by how she has poured into these students.  She took her love for missions and has incorporated it into every facet of their ministry.  Their Spring calendar is chalked full of community service initiatives, mixed in with the game nights and lock-ins.  Even admission to the fun events like their upcoming “Toilet Tournament” requires that the students bring common convenience products as donations to their local ministry partners.  As for the students, they were engaged, attentive, and displayed so much maturity.  I enjoyed my time hanging out with them and we had some great conversations together.  The incoming youth minister, whoever it might be, will be blessed by the foundation that Cami and her adult leaders have laid.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds for these students!

I also have to thank the Shane Clements Band for leading worship this weekend.  These are some great guys who are just getting started and have a huge heart for worship.  They were easy going and fun to work with.  If you’re a youth minister looking for a band, check them out at www.shaneclementsband.com.  In the trenches (a.k.a. host homes) was a fun group of college students from the University of Texas at Arlington.  For several of them, this was their first D-Now.  They were so engaged with the students throughout the entire weekend.  Ultimately you can have a great band and an engaging speaker but you won’t get anywhere without adults in the homes who are ministering throughout the weekend.

All around, I was so thankful for this weekend.  I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed ministering alongside the team at South Oaks.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If you grew up in the church as I did, you’ve heard and memorized these verses over and over.  They explain how we have been saved.  No act of religious devotion could ever rescue us from our depravity.  However, our infinitely loving God sent his Son to pay the price.  Through our faith and trust in Him, we receive the salvation we do not deserve.

Sadly, we often take these verses out of their context and miss a huge piece of Paul’s message.  Check out the very next verse…

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

If verses 8-9 show us how we were saved, verse 10 shows us why. We are the workmanship of God, each designed with a unique calling.  Genesis 1:26 tells us that we were created in God’s likeness.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

This image of God inside of us comes with a heavy responsibility to promote his glory in all areas of life.  Sin destroys that very image.  As a result, it limits our ability to experience all that God has planned for us.  Jesus came to restore that image and the calling that came with it.  Too often, we celebrate salvation for what it means when we die, forgetting its implications for today!  We wait for the day that we leave this world or when Christ returns, never engaging in the Kingdom he is building right now.  The beauty of the Gospel is that we are made new.  We now have the ability to live for his glory with his Holy Spirit empowering us from within!

Conversion is just the beginning of the salvation story.  While the cross gives hope for a day when we are each made complete, it grafts us into a community of believers today.  It gives purpose in the here and now.  Our talents, finances, relationships, and spiritual gifts all become tools in God’s hand.  Are you celebrating verses 8-9 but never engaging with verse 10?  Do you enjoy that amazing grace while taking it for granted?  Jesus came to establish his Kingdom here on earth.  As living ambassadors, we are a royal priesthood to a broken world.  It’s time for the Church to rise up and take hold of this calling; to walk in step with the good works laid out beforehand.  As we enjoy God’s salvation, we must engage with the joyous calling it comes with.

How do you develop an Acts 1:8 strategy in your ministry?

These days, this is the $250,000 question that seems to pervade nearly every ministry conference. The beauty of Acts 1:8 is its all-encompassing nature.  “..and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus commands his disciples to minister in their home, in the surrounding regions, and throughout the world. However, many of us tragically ignore its context.

Notice the first part of the verse. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” It’s not the first time Jesus mentioned the Holy Spirit in this final conversation with His disciples. In fact, Jesus gives a completely different command in vs. 4.  “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father…”

For those of us born with mission in our blood, we love to focus on vs. 8.  It’s like your Mom telling you that you get to eat ice cream.  But vs. 4 is like the giant head of dry broccoli she is making you choke down first.  If you’re a dreamer or a visionary, the command to wait feels heretical.  Some great ministry idea may come to you during your morning shower or while you lie awake at night and the first impulse is to move fast.  However, as disciples we are commanded to wait on the Holy Spirit.  We must recognize that we can’t reach the world by mere human strength.  We need His Holy Spirit empowering us and going before us.

Instead of concocting some huge ground-breaking idea and attempting to implement it in one week, try something else.  Spend time in prayer and fasting over God’s will for your ministry.  Ask for His guidance as you disciple those under your care.  Instead of running ahead as if you’re God’s gift to ministry, ask Him to take the lead and for the personal strength to follow.  Every effective strategy begins with Him.

After a week off, I had the privilege of leading the True Love Waits weekend at my own church, David Boulevard Baptist in North Richland Hills, TX.  The students were very responsive and open throughout the weekend.  The college students under my area of ministry got heavily involved in discipling them as well.  It was great to speak to a group knowing I didn’t have to leave them afterwards.  As much as I love the travel involved with this ministry, it’s good to return home from time to time.

The month of youth events will conclude this weekend in Grand Prairie, TX with a D-Now at Matthew Road Baptist Church.  Our study will surround the theme of restoration in the book of Nehemiah.  Their youth minister, Ryan Trask, is a great guy with a genuine passion for seeing his students engage with the Gospel.  I’m looking forward to my time with them.

While Gravity Ministries is definitely in its early stages of development, I have loved spending this very full month traveling and speaking to these different groups.  While I am unavailable in June, if you’re a youth minister looking for a camp speaker, call or email me!  I’d love to partner with you in ministering to your students.

In His Grip,
Matt

We wrapped up our weekend at the First United Methodist Church. Dr. Bush and his congregation opened up their doors to the students and their parents to worship together. Despite differing persuasions among the denominations, they managed to reach the students in their community by coming together as one.

Klayton Seyler and his band led worship for us, inviting the students to approach God’s throne with their whole hearts. Any speaker would love working with these guys. Rather than entertaining the students, they challenge them with the music to enter into personal worship.

Like last year, we had an amazing time with the students too. I attempted to challenge the students with a deeper look into the Scriptures and they responded with open and hungry hearts. I loved watching them sweetly react to God’s Word with obedience. After getting some rest and catching up on work here at home, I’ll get some pictures up soon!

Matt

Prior to working at DBBC, I had the privilege of preaching in their morning services on two separate occasions.  It is an incredible congregation!  They are a close Christian community with a heart for seeing the Gospel proclaimed.  I consider it an honor to be working on staff with them.  In a matter of one week, Holly and I have felt right at home.

I have spent my first week on the job attempting to network with the Baptist Student Ministries at University of North Texas, Texas Christian University, and University of Texas at Arlington.  My prayer is that our church will build lasting relationships with the local BSMs.  I look forward to getting to know the leadership and students on each of the college campuses.

As you pray for us, pray for…
- new relationships between our church and the local BSMs.
- the college students at our church.
- Audubon Park Baptist Church’s new youth minister, Brandon Smith (a great guy!).
- Holly and me as we move to Irving next month.

I had an incredible time with the students in Stuttgart last year.  I’m looking forward to reuniting with them and working with Klayton Seyler again!

Matt

Over the last three months, Holly and I have sensed God moving us in a different direction than we originally anticipated when we first got married in May.  I began my first semester at Dallas Theological Seminary in August and quickly realized that something was missing.  It became clear that after only a month in seminary, I was burning out at a dangerous rate.  Some of this has been my own fault by not staying spiritually disciplined.  However, I also began realizing that completing Dallas Seminary’s 120 hour Th.M program in the 4 year window allotted to me was not sustainable.  The signs were clear.  I was within years, or even months, of burning out completely.

I have decided from the beginning that my priorities stand as follows: (1) my relationship with God, (2) my relationship with my wife, (3) my current ministry at our church, (4) my continuing education.  As I thought critically about where I stand, I found myself having to choose between meeting the demands of the seminary or remaining obedient to those priorities.  When I truly look at where God is calling me, I do not believe the DTS Th.M program is a responsible stewardship of my time or finances.

With that said, let me make something clear.  I respect and admire Dallas Theological Seminary.  I have learned from some of the best scholars in their fields and developed many meaningful relationships.  To anyone pursuing an academic career, Dallas is the place to be.  For my own spiritual and academic development, I don’t believe it is the best place for me to continue.

For this reason, I have begun investigating other seminaries and recently applied at Southwestern Theological in Ft. Worth.  Although I believe the academic programs at DTS are nearly unbeatable, the M.Div. at SWBTS is a strong practical education.  The atmosphere is the same family-like environment I enjoyed at Ouachita Baptist University and remains a great place for Christian community.  In addition, many of their alumni have played a very important role in my life through the years and are highly effective ministers.

There are many who would oppose me in my decision and if you are one of them, I don’t blame you.  To be honest, I do not agree with the way Southwestern has pursued certain doctrinal issues.  However, I also have not agreed with OBU on some things either.  I have learned that disagreement leads to a sharper faith and questioning leads to a stronger education.  My disagreements at OBU only led to a greater conviction in my own beliefs and a deeper respect for the school.  I expect my experiences at SWBTS to be similar.

God has opened many doors that have led to this decision.  Many of them cannot yet be discussed here.  I do understand the concerns of my friends but I do ask for your respect and support.  We are excited and anxious to see what God has in store.  To all of you who have prayed with us, thank you.  I may never understand why God would lead me to attend DTS for only one semester but I am grateful for my time there.  I am also grateful for our future at Southwestern.

In His Grip,
Matt

A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals.  We have been trying to apply machine-age methods of relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returning from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us: shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit.  These and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.[1]

This truth is painful, profound, and tragically true.  It is an accurate commentary on Christianity today and particularly in my own life.  I am task-oriented, interested in the process and product of a given project.  However, relationships can never be tamed to a process.  Ministry can never be programmed and spiritual growth cannot be tangibly measured by any definitive standard.  This is frustrating but comforting in the same respect.  Our relationship with God is not defined by success or failure on our own strength but is forever marked by the grace of the Father, the sacrifice of his Son, and the power of his Holy Spirit deeply embedded in our souls.

This is a great reminder to stop pursuing God as if he is a chore and stop reducing ministry to a church program.  Sanctification is a task that will never be checked off until you and I kick the bucket.  Why don’t we take some time and enjoy the process of knowing our Creator more deeply?