Matt Higgins on Generosity

My younger brother, Matthews, preached an offering message tonight at Ignition, our highschool youth ministry, that was quite controversial however also quite insightful...

The premise was....

As Christians, God has blessed us to be a blessing (2 Corinthians 9:11). He then went on to explain that if we hold onto that blessing we become 'fat' Christians. Greedy Christians with lots of 'blessing' but no generosity.

He then went on to show images of an overweight baby and a large man riding a motorbike...
His finishing line was 'we can live fat for a while...but eventually fat people die..'

As I said - controversial...yet insightful...

God in Hollywood

I'm currently reading a book written by Jurgen Matthesius entitled 'God in Hollywood'. The third chapter of the book is focused around the topic of choice and our free will. Jurgen shares some great insight into our society today and the way we view choices. Here are a few of my favourites…

Today we live in a world that no longer has ‘right and wrong’ but rather just RIGHTS. You have the right to pleasure, the right to destroy the unborn and the right to decide when a life should be ended. The list continues to grow! This is the product of the dominant western world view known as Humanism. It’s chief end is the empowerment of ‘self’. That is why Humanism, in my opinion is one of the most destructive evils on our planet. It is hostile towards anything that sniffs of Judeo-Christian ethics and is fiercely antagonistic towards both the Bible and the God of the Bible. It radically opposes it’s laws and statutes, proclaiming that real freedom is for every individual to live for nothing higher than themselves right here, right now!

Jurgen goes on to explain that ‘there is nothing more powerful than when a man or woman lines up his or her will up with the will of God..’
Thank God that he has made a way for us to have relationship with him! A relationship where we each have the opportunity and the free choice to follow His will, not ours! The more we choose to follow God, the more we encounter His live and His freedom! There is nothing better!

I love ITV

Over the past few years, our youth ministry have developed an awesome creative video team who produce a TV show each week called 'ITV' (Ignition TV). Many of their shows can be viewed online at www.youtube.com/southsideyouthaus

The ITV team often produce TV shows with only one purpose - to make people laugh. One of my favourites is called 'Storytime with Matt'. 3 episodes were aired at one of our youth camps about a year ago...and it was a massive hit with everyone! I thought I'd post an episode from the show on my blog....quite random... and the lead star is my little brother....

I'll try and post some more recent stuff up here as it becomes available.
Great job ITV team...you people are amazing!

Confident people know their God!

On Sunday I shared a message about David, from 1 Samuel 17. The message was
called ‘Confident people know their God’; I shared 4 confidence characteristics
of David…

1. David served like God was with him

1 Samuel 17:17-28
“Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take
this ephah [a]
of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry
to
their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their
unit…”

David was already anointed to be king but when asked by his dad to carry
some cheese, he did so enthusiastically. I love that God used cheese to promote David from shepherd boy to king! What is the cheese God is asking you to carry?

Often people miss their God purpose because they are concerned with being noticed by others, rather than pleasing God. Confident people serve like God is with them, they serve with enthusiasm, joy and passion because they know they are on a God mission!

2. David reasoned that God was with him

1 Samuel 17:37
“The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion
and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

David interpreted set backs and obstacles as opportunities for miracles and deliverance rather than proof God had left him.

Five frogs were taking a walk in a forest, when suddenly two of them fell into a deep pit. As the two frogs, Albert & Tony tried frantically to jump out the others yelled from the top ‘give up you losers – you’ll never make it out alive.’ Tony concluded his sadistic friends were right and took
their advice, giving up he sits at the bottom of the pit and dies; however, Albert began to jump all the more. Eventually that little frog hopped right out of the hole. How is this possible? Well, it turns out Albert was deaf; while the other frogs were yelling to give up he reasoned that they were screaming encouragement.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

The writer of Hebrews gives us some great keys to creating Godly
reasoning in our own life.

- Our surroundings
Let’s ensure we surround our life with God’s Word!
- Our thoughts
Our thoughts can propel us or hinder us, throw out the stinking thinking!
- Our focus
David kept his focus on God, not the giant!

3. David spoke like God was with him

1 Samuel 17:45-47
“David said to the Philistine, "You come against me
with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD
Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the
LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head.
Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air
and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God
in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear
that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you
into our hands."

There was no hint of fear or confusion in David’s words. He sounded so incredibly confident, he sounded as if he knew His God and he knew his power! What David lacked in stature he made up for in speech and poetic prowess! David lifted the intensity of the situation with his words. In these three verses David makes reference to God six times, describes in detail how he will kill Goliath and declares not only to possess the ability to defeat him but also the entire philistine army!

Our words have the ability to inspire, to lift people’s faith and to inject courage into a situation. We don't have to pray wussy prayers, we can pray confidently and pray in faith thanking God in advance for the victory because we know our God will deliver. I want to be someone who always lifts the intensity of a situation with my words!

4. David responded knowing God was with him

1 Samuel 17:48-49
“As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell
facedown on the ground.”

I love the line that says ‘David ran quickly toward the battle line’. As Christians, God is with us, we should RUN to the battle line confidently knowing that we are about to enter into an incredible victory!

I recently heard a story, that although is fictional, illustrates this point quite perfectly. The story is set in London as a tour guide takes a group through an art gallery. The group stops in front of a painting entitled Checkmate. The guide talked about the painting, the style and texture, and then moved on. But one of the group stayed behind, staring at the chess pieces on the chessboard in the painting. The chess game was between the devil and a young man, who had sold his soul to the devil. It appears as if the devil has won.
The young man has only the king, the queen, and a weak pawn left. The devil has a smirk on his face, as if waiting for the final verdict, Checkmate! The young man who stayed to study the painting was an international chess champion. When the tour group was two corridors away, they suddenly heard their stray
member running down the marble hallway to catch up, shouting, "Wait! It’s a lie!
The king still has one more move. The King has one more move!"

There may be times in our life when it looks as if we have hit ‘checkmate’. The giant may
appear to be undefeatable and immovable! However, let’s never forget our God, our King, He still has one more move! God is with us, let’s live like it!