Holy and Profane…
This past week I was speaking in the young adult tent (The Wave) at the amazing Hope BC Campmeeting just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. I spoke five times from Wednesday to Saturday night and the time was amazing! One young adult came running up to me Friday night after the meeting saying that she was convicted that she needed to be baptized. The following morning her decision became a reality as she publicly displayed Jesus’ love for her by surrendering her life to Him. It was a powerful experience!
Saturday night after going full out all day, I got up to speak about 8pm. I say that only to try to excuse some of the words that I said that evening. Granted I was tired, but this was not the first time that this has happened. It is as though I let my emotions get the best of me and say words that I don’t feel are appropriate in the pulpit. Had I been a listener in the audience that evening I may have been uncomfortable listening to a speaker say that “Jesus was pissed off” at the temple employees who were selling pigeons and charging a fee for the changing of currency. While He was obviously irate, I could have used a different word, such as the one I just did or livid to describe His anger, and not a phrase that certainly packs so much negative connotation.
Additionally, that night I used the word ”freakin‘ “. At least once or twice (maybe more). While in my heart of hearts I am not using this verbiage intentionally, it seems to come out when I get fired up about something. After prayerful consideration I am convicted that I can indeed get the same point across without the use of these words/phrases. Yesterday I received two messages back-to-back pointing out how disappointed they were when these were uttered in the presence of such an age diverse crowd. Unfortunately this is not the first time I’ve received such emails/comments. Once again I dropped to my knees and got on my face before the living God and begged Him to forgive me of any misrepresentation that may of occurred and to help me to better represent Him and His Word in the future.
So, to those of you who were at BC Campmeeting or if you happen to get the CD, I ask your forgiveness as well for the words that came out of my mouth that were unacceptable. It is my sincere prayer and hope to continue to improve on the public declaration of God’s Word!
There is more to come on this topic as I am reading more and more out of scripture that address the way that we talk.
Blessings to you all!
(From the airport in Philadelphia on my way to a Back to School Rally in Florida!)
mwg
Hope British Columbia Campmeeting
I am writing you today from the beautiful Hope British Columbia where I am speaking to in the young adult tent (The Wave) at the BC Campmeeting. God is on the move here in the place as there are people who are attending that are on all sides of the spectrum with their commitment or lack thereof to Jesus. And I praise God for the opportunity to proclaim His goodness. Would you join me in praying for the people in The Wave that God will work miracles this week?
On Monday this week I was at 3ABN shooting a show with Cheri Peters of True Step Ministries (http://www.truestep.org/). What an amazing woman of God. I left her presence feeling so encouraged and excited about the way that God is using her to touch lives literally all of the world. If you can, please remember Cheri in your prayers as she is working on a project that has the potential to transform churches all of the world! Also, if you have 3ABN be on the look out in two or three months for the show we just recorded for Celebrating Life and Recovery!
Next week I will be down in Ocala, FL speaking to the youth at a “Going Back to School” rally. Their youth group is presently up in Atlanta on an urban mission trip! How cool is that? I can’t wait to team up with them again next week!
Courage to you all! If you are interested in teaming up with Vagabondservant International please let me know. We are looking for prayer partners, financial supporters, and fellow vagabondservants who are interested in joining me on the road (males only for obvious reasons).
More exciting news on the horizon.
Courage to you!
Matthew Gamble, DMin
(206) 423-1991
matthew@matthewgamble.com
http://www.matthewgamble.com
Triumphant answer to prayer…
Many of you don’t know this, but as of May 2007 I became the proud owner of a 1996 Triumph Sprint. At $3500 this became the most expensive vehicle that I have ever purchased! It was a huge answer to prayer on multiple fronts. Not only had I wanted a mojo-cycle for years, but I wanted one with the hard saddle bags so that I could store my gear on it. The bigger answer to prayer was having my wife say that she was “okay” with it. That was the biggest miracle of all!
A friend of mine at 24-Seven Ministry Center found the bike on Craigs List and I made arrangements to go see the bike. The night before I lay awake praying that God would make it plain to me what His will was because I didn’t want to buy something if I was going to end up dying on it. As crazy as this may sound, I honestly sensed that God told me to offer the guy $1000 less than what he was asking and that if he took I would know that it was His will. Sure enough the $3500 was $1000 under the asking price and obviously the guy took my offer!
While I have thoroughly enjoyed having the bike, I am a complete novice when it comes to bike mechanics (and any mechanics for that matter!). When we moved out to New Haven, CT last month we put the bike on the ABF Trailer with all of our other stuff. [HERES WHERE THE STORY TAKES A MAJOR TURN!!!!] Upon pulling the bike off the trailer here in Hamden, I was notified by one of the home owners that motorcycles were not allowed on the property (and no pick-up trucks!). I could hardly believe my ears! Later that week I received a hand delivered notice about the rules pertaining to motorcycles and sure enough they are not permitted! (When my mother found out about this she was rejoicing!)
Needless to say I put the bike up on Craigslist in hopes that it would sell. While I had a couple of hits, no one was pulling the trigger even to come and look at it. One guy wrote me with strong interest while I was in Australia and the day I got back he notified me again saying that he wanted to see it. I was sick as a dog for two days and on the third day when I called him he told me that I was a day late, that he had just purchased another bike. But he talked to me for a while and told me about a couple of Yahoo! Groups that I may consider positing it on. So I took his advise and posted the bike on there.
Within a couple of days I received a reply from TriumphJoe stating that he had read about my situation and that he would be willing to store the bike for me while I was in the process of selling it. I was given until tomorrow (the 25th) to get the bike off the property. What a nice guy! How generous to offer a complete stranger the opportunity to store his bike! I thanked him profusely and told him that I was hopeful that it would sell in time. Then on Monday of this week a neighbor came ringing my bell telling me that my bike was leaking fuel everywhere. I ran out and sure enough the bike was dripping fuel profusely out of the gas tank. I was able to get it to stop, but the next day it happened all over again. Later that day (Tuesday) I drove the bike to a shop that TriumphJoe had mentioned in our communications. Upon arrival, gas dripping everywhere, I go to the head mechanic and he notifies me that they don’t work on Triumphs. WHAT!!!! Then he told me that in its present condition that I should not even ride the bike one more foot! He handed me the card of a tower who told me that on Thursday he could tow the bike down to a Triumph certified dealer. So I emailed TriumphJoe to tell him my situation. When he heard the word, he informed me that he has a truck that can easily haul bikes around, but that he would like to take a look at it. We made arrangements to meet at Willow’s where the bike was today at 4pm. Upon arrival Joe moves into action and we loaded the bike up on his truck (I had assumed that we would try to do the repair their). We get to his house and I am pleasantly surprised as Joe opens his garage which contains two Triumphs (one for him and one for his wife) and a Buell (which he is selling). All over the walls is Triumph paraphernalia and tools. It is evident that this guy knows his stuff!
One of the hardest things about moving from Seattle out to New Haven, is that we don’t know a soul here. It is hard to lose your network of friends and resources that you’ve built up. Earlier this week when the frustration started hitting the fan, I stopped and prayed that God would lead me to someone who could assist me during this time. TriumphJoe is an answer to that prayer. Ultimately I would love to hold on to the bike and enjoy it for years to come. And with it in Joe’s hands, I know that it will be safe and sound! I thank God for TriumphJoe! God used him to show me His Grace yet once again!
It Is Finished
I am posting this from the comforts of our new home in Hamden, CT. Last night I got in having traveled for roughly 28 hours straight. I had noticed a sore throat, but assumed that it was because I was tired, but woke this morning to a full-fledge cold. I hate being sick, but I will get over it!
On the last day of the CONNECTION Week of Spiritual Emphasis the message It Is Finished was preached. We took a look at Jesus’ standard of righteousness that He would like each one of us to obtain in our lives. In Matthew 5 Jesus sets the bar quite high as He tells us that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven.” After walking through what it looks like for us to be living the kingdom lifestyle, we find this passage in Matthew 6:33 which tells us that we need to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” You see, Jesus has finished the work. As He hung on the cross, right before He breathed His last, He cried out, “It is finished.” Because He lived the sinless life we are simply invited to look to Him and His righteousness. We are told that our righteousness is as filthy rags, but if we learn to seek His righteousness by beholding Him we will become changed.
It is my hope for those of you who attended this past week at the Parramatta Church found an invitation to behold Him.
Courage to you all.
mg
The Road Less Traveled
Last night I shared how Jesus took me from a life of selfishness and sin to a life of selflessness in service for Him. The Scripture reading was Isaiah 33:5,6 which tells us that : 5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.
When I first came across this passage something resonated deeply within me. The LORD IS EXALTED! HE WILL FILL US WITH JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS! HE IS STABILITY FOR ALL TIME! AND!!!! HE HAS THIS TREASURE OF SALVATION, WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE!!! How do we obtain these treasures? The “fear of the Lord”. What does this mean? I thought that Jesus didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of adoption (Romans 8). The fear that is being spoken of here is one of reverence as we worship God with awe and adoration!
Keep on looking up to Him, the author and finisher of our faith!
mg
Enhance your prayer life
Tonight at 6:15 we jumped into a discussion of how to enhance your prayer life.
Sometime over the next week, schedule a time to meet Jesus.
1 - Take a moment to sit and be still with Jesus.
2 - Slowly read through the Lord’s prayer:
:1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. - Luke 11/Matthew 6
3 - Writer a prayer response to God based on what you’ve just read.
4 - Allow Jesus to speak to you by writing a response in your journal from God to you based on the scripture you’ve just read.
If you are comfortable with it, let us know how your experience was.
Blessings and see you Thursday night at the Parramatta Church at 6:15 for discipleship and 7:30pm for the evening session.
For more information CLICK HERE.
I love it when you call me big Poppa!
G’day fellow journeyers!
Before we get into a recap, I just had the most amazing morning with a dear brother in Christ. GOD IS SO GOOD! He sends people into our lives at just the right time to encourage us and to let us know that we are not alone! PRAISE BE TO GOD!
Last night we started off by turning to I John 2:16, 17. We were reminded that all of our sins fall into one of three categories, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. This is seen in the Garden of Eden story when sin entered in as well as in the ways that Satan tempted Jesus in the desert as well as in the ways that we are tempted each day of our lives. In verse 17 the Bible tells us that he or she who does the will of God will abide forever. The message last night was to understand more clearly how it is that we abide forever.
Turning to Romans 8 we discovered that there are two laws in the universe. The first law is a law of sin and death which when we break it down is the 10 commandments. Why is it a law of sin and death? Because when we look at the law it condemns us because it points out to us the sin issues that we have. Without the law, as Paul states elsewhere, we would not be aware of sin in our lives. The other law is a law of spirit and life that is found in Jesus Christ. Whereas the first law states that the wages of sin is death, the second law says, “But the gift of God is eternal life!”
As we continued on through Romans 8 we came across a passage that I love deeply. Here we read that God did not give us a spirt of fear, rather a spirit of adoption by who we cry out “Abba, Father!” Translating Abba… we get Daddy or Poppa. GOD LOVES IT WHEN WE CALL HIM BIG POPPA!!!!
I leave you with this thought today… what does it mean for you to have a spirit of adoption?
Looking forward to the responses… thank you for taking the time to journey with us.
Courage to you wherever you are today.
mg
Born in Satan’s Image
Can you imagine being five years old and already a felon? That was the case with me. As a shorty I was in to stealing early on. If momma said that I couldn’t have something that I wanted I would simply take it. Nervous? YES! Convicted it was wrong? YES! But that didn’t stop me. I wanted it and was willing to do whatever it took to get it.
When we are born into this earth, we are born with a natural tendency to rebel. If someone tells us not to look in here, our curiosity gets the best of us and we look. Someone can tell us until they are blue in the fact that the fire will burn us, but many of us are too hard headed and we need to learn for ourselves.
That was the case with Prod, the main character in one of Jesus’ more popular parables found in Luke 15. Here a young guy treats his dad as though he is dead. Takes is pre-maturely received inheritance and hits the high road, spending the money living the high life. Then he goes through four major stages. First off, he begins to want something more than what he has. After hitting rock bottom, broke as can be Prod starts work as a pig feeder. After spending some time at the bottom of the barrel, the Bible says that he comes to his senses. This is crucial if you and I want to experience God’s amazing power and forgiveness is that we must come to our senses where we recognize that we have issues. Thirdly he figures out what he needs to do, and finally he does it.
Have you ever noticed that as you are trying to follow Jesus that you often begin to want something, that you come to our senses, and that you reach a place where you figure out what needs to be done? But how often does it occur that we sit there and do nothing? God is leading, but we get distracted.
God is good, because as we turn our will over to Him, He comes running to our need.
Where can you relate with the story of the prodigal son? What might Jesus be telling you out of this story tonight?
Blessings,
mg
Secondly
Created in God’s Image
Last night we continued The Battle Within series with a message entitled, Created in God’s Image. It is here that we started with the creation account looking how the human kind came into existence according to Scripture. We learned that in order for a living soul to exist, there must be a body (flesh) and breath (spirit). Take one of those components away and you no longer have a living soul. In Genesis 6 we find that “God looked upon the earth and found that all flesh was corrupt” [Genesis 6:12]. The reality is that in spite of being made in God’s image, the human race took advantage of freedom of choice and disobeyed the will of God. This disobedience finds at its core selfishness.
Out of a desire to understand what sin entails, we turned over to I John 2:16-17 which tells us that “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. But he who does the will of God abides forever.” If you’ve ever wanted a definition of sin according to the Bible here is the verse. You see, all of your sins fall into one of these three categories: 1) lust of the flesh; 2) lust of the eyes; and 3) the pride of life. It seems to me that the latter of the three is the most deadly as at times it isn’t as tangible as the other three.
Can you relate with the battle within? Would you agree that your flesh is corrupt? Would you agree that you have sin issues fit into one of or all three of the above categories? If you answered yes to any or all of these, wouldn’t you agree that this is beyond coincidence that the rest of the human race can relate? The Bible presents a solution to this common issue that we all face and Jesus is dying to restore us back to the way that we were created to be; free from sin and suffering and separation from Him.
If you are living in the greater-Parramatta area I invite you to join us as we continue to discuss The Battle Within.
Hope to see you tonight!
mg
The Battle Within
Today I am writing from Parramatta, a suburb of the amazing city of Sydney, Australia.
Over the past two years I have been working with the team on the ground here to get a program up and running for the young adults in the local church. Finally the dreaming, the planning, and the preparation have been done and yesterday we kicked off with the first installment of eight corporate worship experiences. I cannot begin to tell you how inspired I was sitting in the second row awaiting my turn to contribute to the service. Why? Because this team of young adults (I am guessing about 20-30) pulled together an extremely solid worship block including a skit, a video, an audience including game, a puppet show based on Daniel, and worship music that lifted your spirit toward heaven! It all made of an amazing way to worship Jesus on the Sabbath.
Yesterday I opened with a message entitled The Greatest Controversy. At the core of the message was a challenge to consider the fact that we already know the outcome of the cosmic battle that we often think of when we hear the phrase, the great controversy. We already know that Jesus defeated Satan, sin and death. Satan was kicked out of Heaven. The battle has been won. BUT!!!! There is still a great controversy going on for our souls; your soul and my soul. Yesterday we looked at the fact that inspite of what we may do or don’t do, that Jesus knows everything about us and is still dying to have a relationship with us. He knows that while Satan is defeated in Heaven, that he is still on this planet seeking to devour even the elect of God. The challenge to each one of us this week is to remain in a posture where we are surrendered to the Holy Spirits leading in our lives.
I want to invite you to check back here regularly as I will be posting a blog every day after the meeting. I would be great to have you comment on your experience as we journey together this week with The Battle Within.
Blessings,
Matthew Gamble
Sydney, Australia
