I am very excited about this new series! I am posting a new question on the My Local Faith Facebook page and asking what would happen if Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Son of God, Lord, Savior and God, started His own Twitter page.  Join me in this series, as we reach out to believers, seekers, and non-believers.

How many followers would he really get?  Who would be the first?  Would it be the same as when he called the first disciples – would people just drop what they are doing and immediately click follow, and could He surpass the most coveted Twitter celebrities with millions of loyal followers  – Ashton Kutcher, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey…

What would He say?  With so much mixed marketing messaging, would people really listen?  I mean, truly listen.  Would He be called a liar? 

Join me as we reach out to people from all backgrounds. I’ll be posting responses, sharing comments, and Tweeting! And, if you like what you are reading, don’t forget to share the blog!

Tweet

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 2

The Magi Visit the Messiah

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[e] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’^[f]”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”^[g]

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”^[h]

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for

Then I called out the name of the Lord.  I said, “Please, Lord, save me!” 

I knew of God.   I even knew some Christians.  I thought, “well, I am a good person, so God loves me and I will get into Heaven, right?”  Part of that is right.

I remember talked to my friend Barry, a co-worker turned friend, mentor and brother, about his relationship with God.  Man, was he open about.  I remember him asking me a lot of questions and I just passing it off as being friendly.  Maybe  a little nosy, but mostly friendly.  (I know he will be reading this by the way).

One day in particular when when we were coming back from lunch I admitted that I just stopped looking for God.  His response, well, let’s just say it was God inspired:

“God NEVER stopped looking for you.”

I nearly fell to my knees when he told me that.  I fought back the tears, the pain, all of the years of living for myself.  At that moment I knew I had to have a serious talk with God.  Still I thought, “I ran from him for so long.  I even turned the channel and refused to watch evangelical Christians on TV.  What will God do to me?”

That Friday night I shut the door to my bedroom.  My wife was downstairs, as I was upstairs, scared, shaking, nervous, confused..but, most importantly, I was desperate for God.  Something in my life was pulling me heart.  I knew that I had hit a wall, and whatever I was about to face, I was not strong enough to do it on my own.

So I prayed. I cried.  I got on my knees.  I asked God for forgiveness for all of my sins.  To guide me in life, always be with me.  I asked God for love.  I thanked him for using people to reach me.  The AMAZING thing about this is that at any moment, God could have decided I wasn’t worth it.  I was too far gone.   Too stubborn.  too proud.  But he knew my heart.

God works through different men in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purpose through them all. 1 Cor. 12:6.

God will use people for his glory to bring us back home.  I 100% believe that non-believers and seekers feel that same pull on their heart.  Feel that same desperation for God.  We just need to pay attention on who God is using to reach us.

]]> http://mylocalfaith.com/2010/09/desperate-for-god/feed/ 0 http://mylocalfaith.com/2010/08/a-back-to-school-devotional-for-students/ http://mylocalfaith.com/2010/08/a-back-to-school-devotional-for-students/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:15:12 +0000 mattnzach http://mylocalfaith.com/?p=585 Continue reading →]]> You guys are looking forward to school.  A lot of you are looking forward to meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and some of you, and you know who you are, are really looking for a fresh start this year, and I hope you get it.

Maybe you are looking for a fresh start its because you have made some mistakes in the past, got in trouble, did some things you aren’t proud of.  Or maybe this year,  you are going to try to meet new people, hang out with a new group of friends, maybe you have decided to make a change in your life.

What does the Bible say about new beginnings?

Jesus says in Matthew 5:

You’re blessed when you stay true to who you are – no more, no less.

I think Jesus is saying – don’t be someone you are not.  A lot of times we try to be someone we aren’t, maybe we are trying to impress a friend, maybe it’s a girl, or maybe a boyfriend.

Jesus continues to say:

You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and your heart – in the right place….You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight, that’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

This year at school, I challenge you all to make a fresh a start.  Be BOLD for God.  Talk to a friend about God.  Jesus tells us, right before he ascended into Heaven, after he was crucified and rose from the grave, just as he said he would:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Ask God to show you new ways to see him at school, in your teachers, in your family and in your friends.  When you are sitting in the worst class ever that you HATE, God’s IS THERE.

In Hebrews, God says    ”Never will I leave you;  never will I forsake you.

And guys, remember what God’s word says about fresh starts:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

When you accept Christ as your personal savior, you have a fresh start. a new beginning.  God forgives of your sin, of your past, of your mistakes, and blesses you with life.

When I first heard this song at a youth conference, I nearly fell to my knees.  As I type this post, my wife, who is pregnant with our baby girl, is humming this song in the background.  God’s blessings are epic.

He must become greater; I must become less.  I Pray that I allow God’s everlasting love to guide us.  My favorite lyric in this is that in the end, God’s light WILL shine when all else fades.  There is no question about that.  We need to decide if we will be beacon for that light or merely a weed that dries up from the intense radiance. We all need God, as the lyric says, our soul cries out. We just need to surrender to our cries.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what kind of “rights” I have as a Christian in this world. To what am I entitled? Am I entitled to liberty? Do I have the right to fight back against injustices done to me? Do I have the right to retribution? Do I have the right to expect honor and respect because I’m human?

It seems like there are obvious answers to all of those questions, yet I’m not so sure. I have liberty in Christ, no matter my earthly status (2 Corinthians 3:17). I am told to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). I am told that vengeance belongs to the Lord (Romans 12:19). I am told that the world hated Christ, and why should I expect any different (John 15:18-20)?

But along with that comes tremendous struggle for me: where’s the line? When someone exploits me, and I don’t expose that, didn’t I just help that person have the ability to exploit others? Don’t I also have a responsibility to the others the person may exploit, to try to protect them?

When I am short-changed because I am a believer, or ostracized – even by an authority figure – does taking it quietly necessarily mean I am being a good testimony for Christ? Or could it also shame other believers into silence, as well? Yet Christ was silent before His accusers, speaking only truth. I know I ought to be able to do the same, but sometimes it’s such a struggle to know what exactly the situation at hand calls for.

And what about preaching the gospel? We are told to preach boldly, to go into the entire world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). I think most of us understand that we don’t have to go to the uttermost parts of the earth to fulfill this mission in our own lives – but what does obeying this command look like? Must it contradict the golden rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us? I know I certainly don’t appreciate deeply personal inquiries from strangers. How do I go about telling people the most important news they could ever hear without talking down to them or needlessly badgering them in a way that makes the gospel into a joke? And yet Christ and the cross must offend (1 Peter 2:4-8). So why am I so scared to offend others?

My mind is spinning, caught between the “obvious” and Scripture, and as usual wondering how God’s Word should radically affect my life. If you came to this blog today looking for answers, you have my deepest apologies. But sometimes the best answers are not answers at all, but questions that lead us back to Christ for answers instead of human reasoning.

Title taken from Brand New’s song “Good to Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have to Do Is Die.”

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

Now, I don’t think this verse was written strictly for social media, but I do believe that we are called to share our faith in Christ and to
be BOLD.

LIKE our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mylocalfaith

If you tweet, follow us.  I’ll admit, we haven’t done a whole lot with the twitter page, but we are always open to suggestions!  http://www.twitter.com/mylocalfaith

I’m also looking at ways to provide discounts or special pricing to Christian-based merchants – t-shirts, bibles, etc. – to followers of this blog. More to follow on this…

Any rate, our Christian Resource page has just been started, so please take a peak and suggest your favorite sites:

• bible study
• merchants
• news
• local ministry
• churches
• and more

Suggest a site here.

We’ve made some pretty exciting changes here at My Local Faith.

1. As I am sure you’ve noticed, we have a NEW look.  The old format wasn’t working well and we wanted a newer design.  We REALLY like this one and hope you do too.
2. Our Facebook page has grown from 30 followers to over 330!  A true testimony for how God is using My Local Faith ministry to reach believers and seekers of Christ!
3. My Church, Abundant Life, interviewed me about My Local Faith.  Check out the video here:

We would love to know what you think of the changes!  Feel free to comment!

Also, we are still looking for people wanting to contribute testimonies, devotionals, and other faith-based commentary to the blog.  Visit Getting Involved to find out more!

Be blessed!

Matt Swain, Co-Founder and Senior Blogger.

Looking for Direction

I didn’t start to take life seriously until I was in 12^th grade.  Up until then, and even a little after, I was hanging out with the wrong crowds and doing a lot of stupid things.  I remember, that one of the only things I looked forward to in high school was photography class – I always had am interest in art.  I always made sure I was on time and did all my art projects for all 4 years.

Then one day, I realized. It sucked.  I hated it.  I don’t know what happened, but it no longer felt right, it was an overnight thing.    The bad thing about this is I felt like I wasted my life.  I had no idea what to do next.

When I first became a Christian, I didn’t know what direction I was going, but I knew that I was being built for a purpose.

One night I was really struggling with God’s plan for me and the direction I was going.

I opened the Bible and had myself convinced that I was going to find it.  Well, I didn’t.  I’ll be honest, I got a little mad @ God.  Here I was, a new Christian, and I felt like I was being left behind.  Right after that feeling, I came across Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. 7Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.

So, this is telling us  to stop worrying, and get God’s peace.

Jeremiah 29:11 – A Verse that you will hear a lot, says:

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.

God really does know the plans for us.  It might not be what we want, but it IS what we need.  We know that if we doing something, or in a situation with our friends or family, and it doesn’t feel right…it probably isn’t.  That is the Holy Spirit working in us..And trying to get our attention…telling us to move and change direction.

Sometimes, instead of looking for direction, we look for a way out.

We look for the easy way out.  We look for immediate acceptance of friends, we get tempted.  We get tempted by wrong decisions, we get tempted by sex, we get tempted by alcohol, we get tempted by drugs, peer pressure, pornography, the list goes on and on.

We look for a way out, because the devil tells us we are not worth it.  That we are not good enough, not smart enough, not big enough, not man enough, not pretty enough.

Psalm 139 Says:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

You are worth it.  We are created in God’s image.

Cor 10:13 talks more about addictions and temptations:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

You know, wouldn’t it be cool if were addicted to God 24/7?  What would that be like?  HE is already addicted to us.

I want to close with this:  Hosea 6:6

God is saying:

I don’t want your sacrifices, I want your love; I don’t want your offerings – I want you to know me.

You know, that is a pretty strong statement.  God says plain and clear – he wants us to know him.