I am thinking of judgment on a completely different level. I am here in Kampala, Uganda for two months and stick out like a very, very soar thumb. Bus and “boda-boda” (motorcycle) drivers are constantly vying for your attention. As you walk by peoples homes/huts they are frequently yelling out “muzunga” (slang term for a white person… like cracker, although I don’t take it offensively at all). Some parts of the city have such strong poverty it is overwhelming. The needs are beyond describable. Simple care at the hospital is not afforded and as a result people die that had they had treatment in the States they would’ve easily lived.
The other day while walking through the slums people looked at me differently. No longer was I hearing the “muzunga” term being belted out, rather people watched in silence as I walked by. It became quite evident quickly that white people don’t walk through these parts of town. I felt convicted to look people in the eye to treat them with the dignity that they deserve as a human being. Deep down inside I wish that they only knew how much I wanted to be their friend; to share life together, to truly get to know one another, to trust one another. Could it be that their needs are the same as mine? I think so…
This book is really a quick read whereby the reader obtains the insight early on. In other words the premise is simple that men desire respect and woman want to feel loved. I don’t want to me too critical (see next paragraph) but once you’ve accepted this reality the rest of the book seems a bit fluffy to me, almost as though the author was hunting for filler.
The reason why I don’t want to be too critical is because I found the book helpful and beneficial in my own life and marriage. You will find practical nuggets throughout the book on how to make your wife fill more loved and for wives, how to make your husband feel respected. An example of this is where Dr. Eggerichs suggests to husbands to ask their wife, when she starts spilling her guts, to simply respond by asking, “Are you looking for my advice on the matter, or do you want me to just listen?” Unbeknownst to my wife that I had just read this, I tried it out and it completely worked! That being said, I give the book a 4 out of 5 because the practical insight is priceless!
Remember that Ephesians 5:33 says, “let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
This week I have had the great privilege of returning for the second time in less than a year to present a week long series of messages at the Richland SDA Church. I am really excited about this series as we are covering the bases with this theme, “Where Are You?”. That question can have multiple meanings as it could be implying where are you as a human being, where is God, maybe God is asking you where you are as He hasn’t heard from you lately, and the list goes on. Specifically speaking we are wanting to address this question from two primary angles, where is God with you and where are you with God. As always we will try to cover our bases to address this theme through the week by looking at it from the perspective of a life-long follower of Jesus, to someone who may not even believe in Jesus. Regardless where you are on the spectrum, we want to invite you to join us.
Each evening we will be closing with a Question and Answer period, or if you’d like, feel free to post comments/questions here on this site.
Courage to you all! I look forward to seeing you this week, each night at 7pm and Saturday morning as well.
It is difficult, at times, to study the Bible. It can be more entertaining, or at least easier to watch TV, get on the internet, etc. Here are a couple of things that I would suggest (Some of this if found on the attachment)Make an appointment with God - Literally set up a time to meet with God where you will not be distracted. Maybe go to a favorite spot and get comfortable. Sit in silence for a while and really center on God and connect with Him through prayer, even if it means telling Him how far away you feel.
Open your Bible - Look for a passage in one of the Gospels that you enjoy. Don’t worry about studying a complete chapter, rather look for a section (aka a pericope). These are often identified by bold headings contained within the chapters. Find a story and read it over and over again. Typically this should just be 5-15 verses of the Bible. As you read the story, each time try reading it from a different perspective, maybe using your senses (i.e. hear the story, feel the story, taste the story, see the story, smell the story). I know that it may sound a bit crazy, but try it. Get into it.
Rewrite the Story - Take a journal and now rewrite the story in your own words. Don’t hesitate to use the Bible as a cheat sheet. Look at it and write it in your own words.
Write a Prayer to God - Now that you’ve spent some time in this story, write a prayer to God based on that story. What is He telling you? What is frustrating to you? What questions to you have? What insights have you gleaned? etc....
Write a Response from God - Stop and listen to God. Now that you’ve written a prayer to God, what is He saying back to you? Write that down. What do you sense Him telling you based on what you’ve just read.
I just returned from the Reedy Creek Church located on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The series I conducted ran nightly from December 6-11 and concluded Saturday morning at the 11am service. We had an amazing week as we explored the Great Controversy. Starting in the book of Genesis, we looked at how the Great Controversy is more than just a cosmic battle, but a very personal battle that is raging in our lives. The final message was based out of Revelation 3 as we looked at the condition of our lives as Jesus calls us out as being lukewarm. Throughout it all, we discovered that the solution is a life surrendered to Jesus, but more than that, a life filled with the very Spirit of Jesus!!!!
I must say upon reflection of this amazing week, that I was thrilled to see the diversity of generations represented at each meeting. The majority of audiences that I speak to these days are young adults (18-40’s). I cannot begin to tell you how my heart was warmed to have many folks in their later years (how do I say that politely?) come up to me and tell me how much of a blessing the messages were to them personally. Please know that I am not boasting in my flesh as through my years as an evangelist I have received my fair share of criticism. While I am sure that the messages, or better the methodology in which I preach, didn’t sit well with everyone, I am deeply appreciative that God used this broken vessel to deliver His message of hope and comfort.
God bless you Pastor Geoff and the Reedy Creek. He is up to something amazing amongst you all. It is my hope and prayer that He will see fit to arrange something for 2010!!!!
Until then… May He who began a good work in you, complete it!
This past weekend I was in the beautiful state of Virginia speaking for the Potomac Conference Bible retreat. We had students from all over Virginia and Maryland come out to Blue Ridge Camp in the hills outside of Charlottesville, VA. The theme for the weekend was The Omega Declaration: God is my final answer! And what I was challenging the participants with was to choose to allow Jesus to have the final answer in their lives.
Today was honestly the highlight for me as we explored Jesus going into the temple and throwing over the tables of the money changers and the pidgin sellers and running them out of the way so that the sick people could come in and receive healing. I made a call, first for people to take a stand that they were publicly declaring that they wanted to follow the Omega Declaration. Then I had a specific call for people who hadn’t ever accepted Jesus as their savior to come forward. While nearly everyone in the room stood, three young men came forward to accept Jesus into their lives! And that was the icing on the cake for me. Don’t get me wrong I was stoked hearing from the people that I had a chance to speak to about their journey, but to see these three young guys take a stand was amazing!
To God be the glory. It ain’t a game anymore! This is as real as it gets!
This weekend I’ll be in Finland as the keynote speaker at SOUL REBOOT. This is a weekend event for both people that already love Jesus and people that are seeking deeper meaning in their lives. If you speak Finnish, the weekend itinerary is laid out below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Ansku (the program coordinator) at ansku@sdafin.org.
Blessings to you and I hope to see you in Jyväskylä, Finland this weekend!
(A friend of mine who is a reporter in Australia just wrote me inquiring about the baptisms at the NNSW Big Camp the final Sabbath we were there… Here is my take on the story...).
While en route to Big Camp, I knew that the one thing that was going to be talked about in the 18+ tent was Jesus. As in Jesus period! We would start Friday evening in Genesis and end 8 days later in Revelation.
Come Friday afternoon the team was assembling and I heard that a pastor fried of mine (Mark Tipple) was scheduled to get baptized the following Sabbath at Big Camp along with several others who I have seen in leadership roles at previous Big Camps as well as other events I’ve been involved with. Upon this discovery, I asked everyone around the circle to raise their hand if they had not been baptized. To my surprise roughly half of the circle of leaders had not be baptized. Through some inquiry of my own I found that it wasn’t that these people didn’t love Jesus, it was that they were opposed to joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church, not due to theological issues, rather because of some of the wounds the church had inflicted on them or their peers.
Friday night was an introduction to a man who was fully human and fully God, Jesus. We ended that night looking at the fact that salvation is found in, and only in Jesus. I told the crowd right then and there that we were going to be talking about the birth, childhood and baptism of Jesus on Monday night at which time I was going to make an invitation specifically for the people who knew Jesus, were following Jesus, but had never been baptized. So Friday night, that is what I did. I made a specific appeal for that group of people who were already studied up and following Him, but hadn’t crossed the line through baptism. It was simple, not drawn out. Some 30 people came forward (I’m really bad at numbers).
Jeff Parker and myself met with the group briefly that night and then invited them back for another meeting the next day. On Tuesday we confirmed contact information and started work on connecting the pastor to the candidate. This gave us ample amount of time to clear up any questions and make sure that the person was ready to take the plunge.
I am sure that your son has told you about Lydia who was baptized on Friday morning. Then on Sabbath morning there were several baptism going on (I was literally running down the beach to witness them) and that afternoon after church was the same deal. All in all Jeff tells me that some 35 were baptized that day (I sure some of whom were not in the 18+ tent, but I am under the impression that most of them were). Then yesterday Jeff wrote me to tell me that another 32 people marked on the appeal card that was given on the last Friday night of Big Camp to be baptized. When I posted that on my Facebook page, another girl wrote and said make that 33 as she had decided to be baptized as well!
Simply put, to God be the glory. He had an agenda for those people in that tent that week. I would say one of the most moving stories for me personally was Lydia’s journey. Here is a girl that I’ve seen at every Big Camp and actively involved in leadership. I don’t know here very well, but enough to hug her when I saw her. She was one of the people that I pulled aside on the first Friday to try to better understand why she hadn’t been baptized. That following Friday before Bevan dipped her in the water her sister shared the story how during the week leading up to Big Camp Lydia told her, “Matty Gamble is coming back to Big Camp. I am going to talk with him about his take on baptism.” Not knowing any of this, the Spirit led me to put her on the spot and ask her why she hadn’t been baptized. When I heard her sister sharing this testimony, I nearly lost it emotionally as God had literally worked a miracle in front of our eyes and I was completely oblivious to it! Sabbath October 17, 2009 is one day that I will never forget. We witnessed mountains moving in the tent that week. GOD IS GOOD!
It has been too long since I posted on the old blog here.
Just a couple of quick updates for where I’ve been/what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks:
1 - For starters, I was down in Trinidad and Tobago to address the issue of pornography. I want to thank Youth Alive for hosting the event and organizing everything. It was an absolutely power-packed week as we were on two radio shows, three TV shows, in addition to presenting publicly several times to various audiences. We are already discussing the possibility of pulling something together for 2010!
2 - The following weekend I was out in Montrose, CO where I was picked up in a 1977 Bronco 4x4 with three other guys. We headed out for the annual Men’s Advance (as opposed to retreat… because men don’t retreat, we advance!). What an amazing weekend. Of the some 50 guys who attended we had everything from seekers to pastors (who may still be seeking). What an incredible weekend together. If/when we move to Colorado, you can be rest assured that I will be joining these men as an attended. It was a powerful weekend as God challenged us to become men after His own heart.
There is more to come, but I am running to catch a flight to Sydney for the annual NNSW Big Camp a few hours north of the city. Please keep us in prayer as the entire series that I will be presenting seeks to look at Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. May He be lifted UP!
If you ever wondered what words you most frequently use on Twitter, you can go to: http://www.wordle.net. There you will find the ability to make your own list of words that are important to you as well or even provide the domain to your blog and it will compile it for you automatically. Good stuff.
I was happy to discover that the word that I most commonly Twitter was “Susan”! She is my wife and I love her!
This week I have had the great privilege of returning for the second time in less than a year to present a week long series of messages at the 
For starters, I was down in Trinidad and Tobago to address the issue of pornography. I want to thank Youth Alive for hosting the event and organizing everything. It was an absolutely power-packed week as we were on two radio shows, three TV shows, in addition to presenting publicly several times to various audiences. We are already discussing the possibility of pulling something together for 2010!
The following weekend I was out in Montrose, CO where I was picked up in a 1977 Bronco 4x4 with three other guys. We headed out for the annual Men’s Advance (as opposed to retreat… because men don’t retreat, we advance!). What an amazing weekend. Of the some 50 guys who attended we had everything from seekers to pastors (who may still be seeking). What an incredible weekend together. If/when we move to Colorado, you can be rest assured that I will be joining these men as an attended. It was a powerful weekend as God challenged us to become men after His own heart.
