undefeated losers

hey there.

it's always fun to be undefeated.  there's nothing better than pulling off what you knew you were capable of...  even in the face of every critic.  the kansas city chiefs currently find themselves 3-0, the only  unbeaten team in the nfl!  nobody truly believed they would be in the position they are in this week.  but they have relearned something about themselves:  money & prestige can occasionally have an impact on the win column; but strong hearts and raw talent carry the trump card every time.

go ahead.  get out there and prove your critics wrong.  don't be fooled into thinking that you will win every battle...  but with the right motivation and God's help, you will win the war.

[and also, please pray for the chiefs...]

_that's what matthinx.

my friend steve

check this guy out:  steve parsons dot net

hey there.

God knows.

He always knows!

it never matters what we've been through, or even where we've been...  God knows how to reach us with His relentless love.


it's like when a stranger from the other side of the planet shows up to worship with you at church, and then he sings a couple of songs that God uses to bring you crashing to your knees.


steve parsons is a funny guy.  i really think you'd like him.  his humor is perfectly dry, and his sarcasm is perfectly dropped.  he's not some pre-packaged squeaky clean plastic christian.  he's real.  he's been there.  but He is madly in love with God as he follows Jesus in real life.  and i haven't even know him 24 hours, but we are kindred spirits.  his lyrics are honestly raw, leaving no room for excuses:

one truth can set a man free, lift him up out of the dark, give him a reason, give him a new song to sing. one Man nailed to a tree, paying the price of a new beginning.  love is His answer and life is the gift that He brings.

i want to care without a stony heart.  i want to love and never lose the spark.  i want to go illuminate the dark.  and i want to, want to love.

[from 'one life'  _  written by steve parsons]

 check this out:  i attended central bible college with danae rutherford, who married steve parsons [singer/songwriter from the uk], who was invited to attend a conference in estes park colorado with eugene peterson [the beast behind 'the message'], and then got in touch with paul church [college friend & current pastor], to finally minister to the body of believers at dakota ridge assembly [where i just happen to attend].  you can call all of those details a tangled mess of happenstances, but i would simply call you crazy.


thank God for working all things together for the good!


_that's what matthinx

the do-over

hey there.

before the great wii, before the xbox, before psanything, even before running water...  we had atari.  it was back in the old days when 3D graphics weren't part of gaming.  some of us remember a time when our video games didn't come with pre-packaged imagination.  we primitively manipulated our pixelated icon across the tv screen, and sat amazed.  it was magical!

one thing has never changed though:  the reset button.  honest gamers will admit to using it more than they were proud of...  but we were thankful to have one more chance to beat the machine.  one more chance to figure out the things we had missed.  one more chance to execute the perfect game.

i'll never forget the long wait before the system was able to reboot.  it seemed like an eternity.  such wasted time.  we had more important things to do than just sit there waiting...  like fixing what we did wrong.

life is like that sometimes, and we find ourselves waiting to reboot.


thank GOD for HIS relentless love!

_that's what matthinx

repeatable comebacks

hey there.

i'm happy for the saints.

it's just a really cool story:  a city that is left in ruins.  a people that refused to give up.  a nation that rallied behind them.  a pro football team with 2 total post-season wins in the previous 42 years; to then win their very first superbowl appearance in 2010.  an epic comeback for the ages.

and the best parts of this story CAN be played out over and over in our own lives...

there are moments when we seem to be left in ruins.  there are moments when it seems like we haven't 'won' in years.  but when we follow God with our life and refuse to give up, we can experience miraculous comebacks.

that's all.

-pm@

p.s.  i would really like to be buried with a casket full of doritos...

ditch the party

[posted first on december 1, 2008]

hello, my name is matthew and i’ve been thinking...

some kids have all the luck. they get all of the alphabet blocks in preschool. they win all of the tetherball games in grade school. they get the brand new car at their sweet sixteen birthday party. they even marry their high school sweetheart. and then there’s the rest of us: the people who get the leftovers... the point? life is not fair. only God knows why good things seem to happen for some, and not for others. the problem with pity parties, though, is that our perception rarely lines up with our reality. we are taking a step back from our circumstances this month so we can see the greatness that God has planned for our future. don’t miss it! 

[pm@]

please sir... put down the rocks

[posted first on july 17, 2008]

winston gordon blogificates:

hello, my name is winston and i’ve been thinking...


life, everyone is always talking about it, making movies about it, even making board games out of it (hasbro knows how to make their billions). but everyone knows how to worry about it. for example, the money people used to use to buy unimportant things like groceries and toys for their children, they are now using to buy gas. lets not forget to mention the election, with so much hoopla over what bush has or has not done the last eight years. and what about the longest primary ever (honestly, before this year i did not even know anyone really cared about the primaries). this november is sure to be one for the history books. this is the life we live in today as americans (of course, i am assuming you are all american. if you are not, i am sorry for the ignorance). the dollar is dropping, and everybody is talking and worrying. isn’t it funny how much stuff gets summed up into such a small word like life. i mean, when you talk about life, you can talk about the beginning or the end, the good or the bad, the board game or the feature film. but can we please just make all of our lives a little bit easier and stop thinking about the stuff that stresses us. i have noticed, especially getting older in my high school career, i see so many people preparing for life in the future that they are not living their life of the present. so many people are worrying about college, and then they will worry about a job, and then they will worry about being successful and having a family. here’s a thought, lets worry about what movie we are going to see tonight with our friends, or which mall we are going to go to later. don’t get me wrong, i am not saying goof off and stopping caring about the future, then you might end up like pastor matt (just kidding, who wouldn’t want 4 kids with enough energy to power new york city, with one more on the way). all i am saying is: stop trying to catch the good life, and let God bring the good life to you. work hard, but then go play just as hard. when you spend more time thinking about life than you do living it, you end up like that old cat lady that every one thinks is a witch, or the old guy on his porch with a shotgun who throws rocks at little kids as they pass. and who really wants to end up like that?

[wg]

wii went bowling

[posted first on april 22, 2008]

hello, my name is matthew, and i’ve been thinking...

old people rule the world because they are better bowlers. 1 super long lane, 10 annoying pins, 2 terrifying gutters, and 1 stupid-heavy ball. all that just takes an awful lot of life experience to overcome. practice makes perfect, they say. and the more often we are able to stare down our goals, the more often they fall over in fear of our scary face. so, keep aiming down the middle and staying out of the gutters. you’ll eventually see all of the pins rolling around in pain and agony as you squint down the long lane of life in your bifocals. oh yeah... j.high averaged 65 per game, sr.high averaged 90 per game, and the old people averaged 108 per game... enough said. ;~)

[pm@]