Let's Get Dirty

You cannot hope to deliver a people you have not first wept for

I heard this quote last weekend and since then it has been resonating in my heart. I was lead to read Nehemiah 1 while on my lunch break today. Although Nehemiah had been long removed from the bondage of the Israelites when he heard of their distress he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed. As God has begun to give me a heart for college students again, I find myself being more and more touched at the heart level when I see so many college students bound to idols and image and lack of identity. As God has been transforming my heart and filling it with His love for the students and campus I can no longer approach campus ministry from a detached point of view. Hebrews 4 tells us that we don’t have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (the Message version says our “reality”). We must be willing to be touched at the heart level by those we want to reach if we ever hope to make a Kingdom impact.

One thing this generation knows is fake people. They have seen people come and minister with hopes of growing their church or reaching a “goal” but they want someone who is willing to come and be immersed in their world. Nehemiah could have remained distant from his past but he got right in the thick of things and because the people saw the purity of his heart they worked with all their heart (Neh 4:6). It's time for us as believers to come out of the 4 walls of the building and become Christ's body. God's command was to "GO" not to remain in a building. If your "visitation" doesn't lead to a deeper heart for God's people than I wonder if it was just an emotional high.

As I have been going to St. Augustine's campus there have been so many student who are open to hear the gospel but not because I came with a convincing reason why they were going to hell and needed Jesus but because they felt Christ love through me. It may be cliche but it holds so much truth, people don't care what you have to say until they see how much you care. It is clearly seen when I go with God's heart and when I don't.

Father, I pray that you would fill me with more of your love. I want to know how wide it can reach, how deep it can go. Holy Spirit, help me to open my heart to be touched by the reality of those I minister to. May I always be willing to associate with those in a low position. Lord teach us to love sincerely, no longer with selfish intentions but out of pure hearts. Break our hearts with the things that break Your heart, Lord. Father, perfect Your love in us that would cast out all fear, empowering us to go into darkness in our weakness with the simple message of the gospel of Jesus.

Truth Released in Public Schools

The principals in South Carolina are willing to risk their jobs because they realize what they're doing now is not working. They know these kids needs Jesus and are willing to take a stand and allow the Truth to come. We need to pray for Eddie and his team and they continue to invade the public schools and pray that God would open doors for other ministries to invade schools in their area.

It started with 1 school and before the weekend was over Eddie and his team had been invited to 4 other schools.

Below is a picture of the altar call at one of the schools. 90% of the students surrendered to Jesus!!!!

Generation X

JESUS!..is the war cry for a generation that’s been set free from the mental manipulation brought forth by defiled religion

Listen

They prophetically spoke our name when they decided to label us generation X

Now we’re a generation of Ex-masturbators, Ex-fornicators, liars and self-haters

Our past has been X’ed out by the one who sits on the right of the throne

With our future unknown because eyes have not seen nor ear heard what God has in store…

For a generation that wants more

More than church on Sundays

That carry over to mundane Mondays and temptation Tuesdays

But will stand TO-DAY and say baptize me in Holy Fire

The only true purifier

Search me O God and know my anxious thoughts

My prideful thoughts

My lustful thoughts

Transform my mind with the things I’ve been taught

Knowing I was brought out of darkness never to return

So we’re a generation that chooses to burn with a holy passion

We CHOOSE passion

Not the kind that requires condoms and KY

But the kind that sends us to bed early to wake up at 5 just to cry

Cry out for revival

Cry out for survival

‘cause our constant rival is on the attack

Snatching prophets from wombs and locking apostles in tombs…of addictions to children on computer screens

But we stand in between like Aaron to stop the plague

Interceding for the spiritually dead,

Cause that’s why our Savior bled

So we could speak life and say pick up your bed……and walk

Yet you’ve seen most of our generation walk..right out the church

Because we don’t want our best life now

We want revival right now

No more man-made empires, not now!

Our ears stopped itching for the prophe-liars

The moment we saw the Messiah

I’m tellin’ you the devil’s a liar

Our generation’s not lost, we’re tired

Tired of lives with no power

Trees with no fruit

We want the Truth that will tear down the towers of Babylon

Not preachers in pulpits that just babble on

We’re generation where the word of God is the only thing we’re standin on

So when you see the army coming up over the horizon

With jeans, and fitteds and timbs on

Know that we were made for war

We were made for more

This very moment is what we were born for

To turn the tide of history

By the power of our testimony backed by His story

Generation X

We have nothing to hide so we live X-rayed lives that tend to offend those who choose to keep sin behind locked doors

We’re settin the Xample according to 1 Timothy 4

Generation X, there’s nothing we want more than….JESUS!!

Houston, We have a PROBLEM!!!

The second largest abortion clinic in the world is being built at this present moment in Houston, Texas. This six-story Planned Parenthood abortion "Super Center" is right in the middle of four (4) minority neighborhoods. Three average to 85% Latino in population and the other is 85% Black American. Planned Parenthood is targeting these minority pro-family communities, both for their finances and the restriction of their populations. But, there is a voice rising out of Houston and out of Texas, declaring, "We don't want this in our neighborhoods!"

On Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday, January 18th, 2010, thousands are gathering to march against this Goliath to pray, fast, and peacefully siege this massive injustice in the spirit of that great liberator Martin Luther King Jr. This is a great hour for the Hispanic pro-LIFE people, Catholic and Evangelical, to raise their voices against abortion and for adoption. Public opinion over abortion is shifting radically in America to pro-LIFE at the same time this facility is exalting itself above the humble and oppressed.

We are entering into the 37th anniversary of the "Roe V. Wade" abortion decree of 1973 on January 22, 2010. We are in a '73/'37 window to reverse that decree.. It started in Texas, now let it begin to reverse there. We are calling for the pro-LIFE people of Houston, Texas, and America to gather Sunday night, January 17th, 2010 for four hours of prayer for spiritual awakening and justice, from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at Grace Community Church. On this evening, 1/17, we will be unifying with one voice before God to pray for the Luke 1:17 answer to the killing of our babies and the wounding of our women - "And he will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the rebellious to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

On January 18th, at 9:00am on Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday, we will gather by the thousands to launch a silent prayer march through the streets to the abortion "Super Center" for a nationwide press conference and prayer stand. As Martin Luther King Jr. would proclaim it - It is time to "subpoena the conscience" of the nation from the flashpoint of Houston, TX.

To LEARN MORE and see the VIDEO of how Planned Parenthood is targeting the minority families of Houston go to Bound4LIFE.com/Houston

Maybe Houston could become the Birmingham of our day to let the unborn go free and spare the pregnant mother the agony of guilt. Maybe out of Houston a great demonstration of compassion could be launched through pregnant mother care with a mass movement of adoption. Martin Luther King Jr. cried, "I have a dream." Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., has eloquently stated, "How can the dream live as long as we kill our children?" God has a dream. He has a dream for America and He has a dream for every mother and every child and a six-story massive abortion facility has never been a part of that dream. Let's end the nightmare and let the dream live.

On the road to Houston,

Matt Lockett
Director of Bound4LIFE

I'M MARRIED....AND WITH CHILD!

It has been a loooong time since my last post and ALOT has transpired since the last post. One thing has remained the same....God's passionate and consistent love. As you may know by the title of this blog, as of October 25 I am a married man...and have a child on the way. Most people have the obvious questions, "when? where? why wasn't I invited?" and so on. To answer all of your questions, Esther and I have created a blog where the last 2-3 months of our lives are laid bare. We know that this blog will minister to thousands and expect nothing less. Over the course of the next week there will be 3-4 posts on that blog giving you behind the scenes access to what culminated on October 25th. Please take the time to read the blogs and pass them along.

www.emmanuelandesther.blogspot.com

I will post a personal blog here in the next week, as I won't forsake my personal blog for this one. God bless!!

Unchanging Love

“Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” Song of Songs 8:7

As I was waking up this morning, I kept hearing, “utterly scorned”. Even as I went through the usual drifting back to sleep before finally getting up, I kept hearing, “utterly scorned”. When I got up, I knew the passage of scripture that this phrase came from so I went to the word and read that scripture in its entirety. Although the last part of the scripture is what I heard this morning, it was the first part that caught my attention as I read it. “many waters cannot quench love” As I meditated on that phrase, God began to remind me of the characteristics of water, one being its instability.

God showed me this morning that no matter how unstable I may be at times, I cannot stop his love. As inconsistent, cold, hot, lukewarm I may be some times it cannot quench his love for me. Even in long stretches of me being unstable, I cannot wash his love away or make him love me any less.

We all have our moments of instability in life but I want to encourage you and let you know that our instability does not change God’s faithful love towards us. We can try to earn his love through works, which would be utterly scorned or we can simply receive his love.

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.” Isaiah 30:18-19

Stop moving, stop running, stop trying, and just receive the love of Abba.

It's ok to be Weak....A Word to the Fellas

As a young man, it has been blatantly emphasized that men are suppose to be strong and not show weakness; that’s the culture we live in. Life isn’t always peachy-cream and sometimes it’s extremely difficult to be strong but we can’t show weakness because somehow we have associated weakness with loss of respect. I’m reminded of King David, when his son Absalom was killed. Yes, Absalom stole the hearts of the people away from King David but that was still his beloved son, so it hurt when he heard of Absalom’s death.

The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!” 2 Samuel 19:4

The king is hurting and vulnerable, in a weak state. Instead of those around him allowing him to mourn the loss of his son, they basically told him to suck it up or he’ll lose the respect of his men.

Today you have humiliated all your men…now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall.” 2 Samuel 19:5, 7

This is a sad mindset that has not only taken over the minds of men in the world but also men in the church; that the men cannot show weakness or emotion. In working with teenage young men, I hear it all the time. Any male that shows affection, emotion or makes themselves vulnerable are called “gay”, “soft”, “punk” and other words that are no longer in my vocabulary.

In staying with the example of David, look at his life he had no problem showing his emotions. Read through the book of Psalms and listen to how David expresses himself. Christ did not die on the cross for us to keep trying to be strong; he died so we don’t have to try to be strong anymore. I don’t remember what movie it was that I was watching but I remember a scene where the wife had tried for so long to be strong and finally the husband told her she doesn’t have to be strong anymore and there she broke and became weak. I think we as men have a hard time showing others that we are weak. I can personally attest to this because there have been numerous times where I would do things just to prove my “manhood”, knowing that I didn’t agree with or didn’t want to do it.

Fellas, we are the bride of Christ! We must remember where we stand in this relationship; it is a marriage relationship after all. We are the weak one in this relationship. We strive so hard to be strong when on the inside we’re dying for help and Christ is saying, “you don’t have to be strong anymore”... It’s time for a divine exchange!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

We can never tap into the power of Christ until we first become weak. If we’re always trying to be strong then His strength can never invade our lives but the moment we say, “I can’t do it” then His strength is made perfect. 1 Corinthians 1 says that His weakness is stronger than our strength! So can you imagine his strength!! Paul said that he boasts about his weaknesses, he rejoices in the fact that there are some things he does not have the power to do. He does so, not as an excuse but as an open door for Christ to come in and show his strength. When I first learned this I began to confess that I boast about my struggle with pornography because I knew that I did not contain the power to stop watching it but there was one greater in me that was ready to fight for me if I would move out of the way. There are things in our lives that we don’t have the power to change or stop but as long as we keep trying to will it then it’ll never change but when we throw our hands up and say, “God I can’t do it, I need your help!” then he’ll gladly step in.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

An example that I use in the book that I’m writing is that of tag team wrestling. I used to love watching growing up. When you’ve been in the ring fighting for a while and you’re exhausted, what’s the best thing to do? You look to the corner and see your partner, Jesus, reaching for you to tag him but you say no I want to win it. So you continue to take a pounding until you can take it no longer and crawl to the corner and with all the strength left you reach up and tag Jesus. (How long will you take the beating before allowing him to jump in?) He’s been ready to get in so he jumps in the ring and bounces off the ropes to close line the opponent and quickly pins him. Victory! Jesus is standing just outside the ring, stretching, waiting for you to tag him so he can give you the victory. What are you waiting for?!