May 14

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Faith before Growth
    I like how it talks about the churches growing in faith before size. I think too many churches find value in the amount of new people coming out then in really meeting the spiritual needs of the people who are there already. Read more »

May 13

May 7

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a video contribution The same power
    The same power that conquered the grave. Check out verse 10. Read more »
  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution This Jesus thing, it's gonna be huge!
    Haha, once again the Message wins, check it out! "Eventually the news is going to get out" Wow, its uncontainable, even if we are lame enough to never tell anyone or spread the word, God will have his way. It's going to get out. Read more »
  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Everyone
    I love how this verse is worded in The Message. In other translations it says "God wants all men to be saved." But in the message it says "He wants not only us, but everyone to be saved." Same idea, different emphasis. I find myself reading things like, "God loves everyone, God wants to save everyone," and I apply it only to me, that it means he loves ME and that he wants to save ME. This just blew up my understanding by really showing me that it's not just… Read more »

Apr 20

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Justice
    It is interesting that the first practical way to act out a righteous life as described in the preceding verses is to seek justice. I think that too often, we Christians see living a righteous life as simply not doing bad stuff. We think God is always saying "don't do" when really he is screaming "DO". Read more »

Apr 9

Apr 7

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Awe
    Something I've been thinking a lot lately - God is Big. Incomprehensibly Huge, Wise, and Powerful. Check out Isaiah 55:8,9. How high above us is God and his ways? How often do go up to God and demand that he tell me what I want to hear, or give me the feelings I want to feel? Who the heck am I? "Let your words be few." God knows, and he expects us to let him do his job. Of course he wants to hear when life is crappy and when things are wrong, but he also expects us to come t… Read more »
  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Falling Down
    Is there really anything sadder than a lonely person? God did not make man to be alone (Gen 2:18). He made a helper for Adam and he created all of us to be helpers to each other. I like to think of v.10 literally. Think of a old man, walking with a cane, and he slips and drops the cane and he has no one there to help him up, imagine people walking by, not even giving him a second glance. We all fall down, emotionally and spiritually, and it is absolutely vital that we have a person to turn to… Read more »

Apr 4

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Masterpiece
    I LOVE this verse. It is probably the most inspiring and moving verses I've come across. I first heard it through a devotional at camp 2 summers ago. Honestly, I was just reading through it to get it over with but when I hit this verse I had to do a double take, it really spoke to me right away. The word that has been translated "workmanship" actually refers to a creation of highest value, or masterpiece. Check that out, God doesn't make screw-ups! We are his creation and h… Read more »

Apr 1

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Hopelessness
    that right there is bitter hopelessness. all of our wrongs cannot be made right, what ever we are lacking we will never have. i love this book because it relates so well to the human journey. sometimes we get the impression from the Bible that we're supposed to be happy and joy filled and hopeful alll of the time, but here is someone in the Bible that really says it how it is - Life sucks sometimes. Notice however, that as he lists all of things that are meaningless, God is never once m… Read more »

Mar 31

  • mattnolson
    mattnolson added a text contribution Receive and Live
    was it difficult to receive Christ as your Lord? No it was so simple, simply a conscious decision. So what I'm getting from this verse is just that! Living in Christ is just a daily decision, we don't have to prove anything to Him, just live. Read more »