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Name: Matthew
Birthday: 5/29/1983
Gender: Male
Interests: Yes, I have interests! They include: Outdoor activities (especially hiking), strategy based games, socializing (either by IMs, blogs, E-mail, or in person), and the obvious seminarian answer..... God! (Learning more about, growing in, serving, and spending time with Him).
Expertise: Whatever a 24 year old of my nature could be an expert in.
Occupation: USAF Chaplain (in training); E
Message: message me
AIM:  MatthewOfTheWest
Member Since:
10/19/2004
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| Family Changes!!!
I have not posted for two months... Several things have happened in this time!!! Not to steal my mother's Christmas card thunder, but we have declared this year, "2008: The Year of Change!" Let's review a bit, shall we? - My Dad: Jumping the gun a bit, he got a new job last year after being in the Air Force Reserve since I was 4!
- My Older Brother & His Wife: He quit his old job and became self-employed. Check it out!
- My Younger Brother: Graduated from High School and is heading off to college!
- My Mother: Her boss for 7 years is changing jobs and she may have more changes after this to come!
- My Mom & Dad Both: When I left my family in January we all expected I would return to the same house in June, yet since that time the county told them they would be taking a large portion off the front yard and side yard--so they offered to buy the whole property! When I came in June they were already moved in (full expenses paid by the county) to a property with more acreage, more house square-footage, and greater distance from the ever-encroaching city!
- Myself: December 12th I plan to graduate from Seminary, this was an expected change, like my little brother's graduation; yet what was unexpected was a recent thing that fell upon me--I was offered a fulltime job in Fremont, CA, at a Christian High School to be one of their Bible teachers. I have accepted this and plan to move to Fremont in early to mid August. Who knows what other changes may come with this!
That is all for now.
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| I Grieve Tonight Over the Loss for the Chapman Family
Source Link
Maria Sue Chapman, daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman, dies in accident at family home
NASHVILLE,
TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Thursday May
21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to
Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman
home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital
in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries
there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of
their three adopted daughters.
More
than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The
Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter,
Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families
reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to
over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.
Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning
artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1
singles. | | |
| The Wisdom of the Lord
I earnestly desire the Lord’s wisdom. Yet so often I limit this to a ‘gumball machine’ mentality. I only want this one little pellet of wisdom, the answer to some specific question. Yet I believe what the Lord wants to give me is a greater wisdom—a wisdom that comes through the trials and uncertainty of life. This is the type of wisdom that teaches me how to make gumballs. I am reminded of the proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I believe the Lord’s wisdom is like this. He wants us to struggle with what choices to make, often choosing not to give us an answer so that we might gain true wisdom, not just the ‘gumball answer’ for that limited ‘big thing’ on our mind. While I realize this, it is still a hard thing to embrace because I am impatient and want the Lord’s answer to ‘big life choices’ ASAP. Yet here I realize the Lord’s wisdom—it is that He wants His wisdom to become part of my character and nature. Another aspect of the person of Christ woven deep within the fabric of who I am, that I may live this, know this, and use this as His ambassador to build up His Church. Yes, this is the wisdom that I most desire. Yes, I will struggle with the uncertainty of the future so that I may gain this greater wisdom to better know and serve the Lord, my King, my Redeemer, and my intimate Friend.
><> Lord, help me to distinguish Your wisdom from my own, trusting in it with my all. <><
“My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.”
Proverbs 24:13-14
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| Alcohol: An Issue for Christians?
Proverbs 23:29-35
The Southern Baptists have what many consider to be a pretty 'hard-nosed' position on alcohol, not allowing missionaries or seminary students they sponsor to drink it--at all. While theologically many of those who fall into this category realize that wine in temperance is not wrong, we also will note that the drinking culture in America is so dastardly we cannot support it by buying their product or through our example encouraging others to succumb to it (consider the past alcoholic who recently was saved). Consider the following proverb... Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has red eyes?
Those who linger over wine,
those who go looking for mixed wine.
Don't gaze at wine when it is red,
when it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.
You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship's mast.
They struck me, but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn't know it!
When will I wake up?
'll look for another [drink]. Proverbs 23:29-35 (HCSB)
In the words of the Apostle Paul...
Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble,
I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.
1 Cor. 8:13 (U-NASB)
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| Proverbs 22
Proverbs 22:4 <> The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life. (Have you wondered then what the result of pride & no fear of the Lord is?)
Proverbs 22:6 <> Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (A foundation on which parents must operate, being ever careful their child is being trained up properly when not under their care, e.g. church & school.)
Proverbs 22:15 <> Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, The rod of discipline will remove it far from him. (This doesn't jive very well with our culture. You can see that it must be wrong, because all the adults who grew up without discipline aren't foolish at all, right? ...)
Proverbs 22:24-25 <> Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a
hot-tempered man, Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for
yourself. (As it says about bad company, it will corrupt good conduct. You will become like your friends. My father taught me when i was young, 'Careful who you choose as friends.' I've not forgotten that counsel--it was and remains very wise. Choose carefully!)
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