MMerge's posterous

Thought and more from Matt and Myra Jackson

No Reservations

 
"For all that has been, thanks.  For that shall be, yes"  Prayer of Dag Hammarskjold
 
B. Manning says "Reckless confidence for me is the unshakable conviction that Jesus and the Father love me in a way that defies imagination.  It means to accept without reservations all that the Abba of Jesus has ordained for my life, to have the attitued of Jesus when he prayed in the Garden, "Not my wil but yours be done."
 
Now that is living by faith = no reservations!

Spiritual Discipline

Our Virtue for the month is Discipline.  We are studying spiritual disciplines with our family and with the kids and youth at Liberty.  Last night we talked about scripture memorization with the kids and it was amazing how quickly they can memorize scripture, if only we parents would take more time and help them with that.  I am constantly looking for and thinking about ways to do more family ministry and less kids or youth ministry, but constantly come back to the fact that the parents must want to do it and be doing it at home.  What will it take for the messed up situation in our churches to change.  Discipleship starting with the Parents! 
 
I got this email this morning from Chip Kirk and he has some great thoughts about reading the bible.  What if parents would read the bible more?  that would help...


Soul Food: Reading the Bible

 

It’s no surprise that the Bible, as the saying goes, is the best selling, but least-read

book in the world.  Even among committed Christians the Bible is a neglected book:

nibbled, but rarely eaten, acknowledged but unabsorbed.—R.N. Frost

 

Unless we discipline ourselves to get up earlier to read our Bibles, we probably won’t.

Unless we discipline ourselves to read our Bibles instead of watch TV, we probably

won’t.  Unless we discipline ourselves to read our Bibles instead of surf the web, we

probably won’t.  Will we, then, discipline ourselves to read our Bibles?  Our answer to

that question reveals a lot about us.—Chip Kirk

 

Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night,

so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous

and successful.—Joshua 1:8


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hit "reply" and type their name and email address (with their permission).  To be
removed from the mailing list, simply hit "reply" and type "unsubscribe.

Should Advent be more about the 2nd coming than the 1st?

I had an interesting thought this morning as I read an article about advent on the Relevant Magazine website http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/19167-the-final-countdown. 

 
Should Christians get more excited during Advent and Christmas about the second coming of Christ than the First?  I mean, I love to think about the first coming of Christ, the Creator of the world becoming a baby, the messiah's birth, the first worship services, etc, but that is history.  As a follower of Christ, shouldn't my hope and life be more tied to the future than the past? I can learn from the past, but I'm living for the future.  So maybe I should focus more on the second coming than the first during Christmas.  I wonder how things would change if we started that shift?  I mean do we even have a time in the year that we really celebrate or think about the return of the Messiah?  Maybe that is something we should do all the time or the rest of the time, other than Christmas and Easter, but it doesn't seem like many Christians think or talk about it much.
In a society that is scheduled by the next holiday, I think it interesting that we Christians join in on so many pagan or national holidays so much more than the important events of the Church.  The biggest event of all is yet to come, maybe that is why we don't celebrate it, but is certainly something to get excited about (and ready for).
Every year I ask God to show me something new about Christmas, so this year I'm focusing on the Second Advent - waiting in expectation for the return of the Messiah and the start of a whole new time and society.  Of course this quickly reminds me that I need to share this hope and expectation with those who don't know or have it yet so that they will experience it too.    This Christmas may we share the love of our God, that came as a baby, died as our Savior, and will Return again as the King of the ages.

On a side note, my kids are really enjoying a lego advent calendar this year where one kids gets to open a little door each morning and gets a little lego person or thing.  It really helps count down the days till Christmas, just wish we could count down the days till the second coming.  I guess thats the beauty of it.  We don't know when so we need to think like it is today and/or in 100's of years.

How Low Can You Go? Did you hear about the VMA's?

Every year MTV makes the news for something at the VMA's.  There is a great Youth Ministry site that reviews them and gives some good thoughts as it applies to Family, Youth, and society.  If you have kids they have heard about it already.  If you don't know what is going on, you need to.  Read the article and be willing and ready to engage with the upcoming generation.

Enjoy Parenting

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove
 
       The Attraction Parenting PATH Program is
       guaranteed to reduce parental STRESS and increase
       parental JOY significantly within 30 days!  See...
       http://www.enjoyparenting.com/path/info


:: Unconditional Presence: The Oak Tree ::

Imagine a great Oak Tree. It knows where it stands,
and it holds powerfully to its position. But it
doesn't defend its position -- it's simply *there*.

You can drive a car into the massive trunk of the
Oak Tree, and the car will be smashed while the tree
remains standing. It's not standing *against* you, and
it doesn't take your destructive behavior personally.
It just remains rooted... focused... present.
Unconditionally.

Now imagine that *you* are the Oak Tree... How does it
feel to be so powerfully positioned? Isn't it nice to
know that no one can uproot you? Would you even bother
to resist? Or would you simply relax and enjoy being
right where you want to be?

Next time you feel "uprooted" by your child's
behavior, emotions, or any other conditions, remember
the unconditional presence of the Oak Tree. Stand
rooted in the ground of infinite Well-Being.

There is nothing to resist... All is well.

http://dailygroove.net/oak-tree

      Get "The Daily Groove" BOOK!
      http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2009 by Scott Noelle

Good thoughts from a friend

A friend of mine puts out some inspirational thoughts called Soul Food.  They are really good.  I thought I'd share them with you and encourage you to sign up at his website.
 
 
Soul Food: Down Home Morsels for the Hungry Soul
 
He who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.—1 Corinthians 6:17
 
We must realize that we start with facts and not with feelings.  The fact is, because
Christ’s Spirit and my spirit are one spirit, I am already intimate with Christ and
Christ is already intimate with me.  We must learn to respond properly to that
positional fact so that our practice mirrors our position. In light of the fact of our
position in Christ we don’t need to wake up this morning and say, “I’m going to
try to be intimate with Christ today,” but “I am already intimate with Christ today,
and by moment-by-moment acts of faith I’ll practice that reality.  I’ll live and act
each moment like it is true.”—Chip Kirk
 
Fifteen pounds per inch of air pressure are now pressing on my body.  I do not feel
that pressure nor do I have to work up the faith to believe that there are 15 pounds
per inch of air pressure so that I can breathe.  I could try to hold my breath until I
felt that pressure, but that would be both ridiculous and futile.  So, I simply breathe. 
Moment-by-moment I practice the presence of air as a matter of fact, and I breathe
and, subsequently, experience life.—Chip Kirk
 
Soul Food is a side dish of www.chipkirk.com

A GREAT DAY!

(download)

Today I, Matt, had the awesome opportunity to baptize a friend, my nephew and two of my sons.  It is so amazing that in the middle of my wondering what in the world God is doing with me, he does things I would never have expected.  I was visiting with Thomas yesterday and talking about how he is starting over in life and been through so much and he said to me "is there any reason I shouldn't get baptized?"  I told him the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40) and how he asked the same question.  We decided to do it today.  I went home and told our family and the three Wyatt cousins that are visiting.  I asked if any of them wanted to be baptized and John-Cole said he wanted to too.  Johnathan, our youngest has said he wanted to everytime I have asked since he was little, but he is six now and after some talk we decided he really wants this for the right reasons.  James also came this morning and said he wanted to as well.  So this morning Thomas went to Christ Family Church and invited them and we met them out there after our family worship time.  It was a great day.  May God continue to surprise us and be the center of our lives!

Happy 4th of July

Enjoy the 4th of July with MMerge Ministries!!!

If you live in or around McMinnville, You are invited to come enjoy the City Fireworks with us.  Now that we live right across the street from the Civic Center we have some of the best seats in town for the show.  Bring your Lawn Chairs or blankets, we'll have the drinks (Water, Lemonade, and Coffee) ready.

Matt and Myra Jackson
138 Club Dr, McMinnville

McMinnville Soccer Camp

Hey everyone with kids in McMinnville, I will be coaching a Soccer camp next week at Pistole park for kids ages 4-12, Tuesday through Friday!!!  June 9th - 12th!!
 
This will be done during McPOW which is a local youth ministry mission week so I will have youth from area churches helping lead the camp.
 
The cost is only $10 and that includes lunch.  It will be from 10am - till 1pm.  call or email me if you have questions or to sign up.