Does Your Brain Control Your Heart or Your Heart Control Your Brain?

The question above could be one debated from many different angles, with many different perspectives both physiologically and spiritually. I will let you hash it out while I concentrate on the fact that a healthy mind creates a healthy heart and a healthy heart helps create a healthy mind.

Finally, brothers, whatever if true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

The following is a link to a free web protection tool that can help protect yourself and your family from unhealthy material that is so easily obtainable on the internet.
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

I encourage you as I have done myself to make the smart choice in helping your family keep a heart, mind and soul that is committed to what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise by taking the necessary steps in protecting our families from unnecessary temptations.

In Christ, Matt

Discipling South Africa

South Africa 2010
Pray for the Burke family as they faithfully return to South Africa and continue a discipling process that strengthens friends in Christ by enriching them with encouragement, Bible teaching and love.

Tuesday, November 9th
Leave for Chattanooga @ 2:45pm
DELTA Flight 7397
Leave Atlanta at @ 6:45pm
Delta Flight 200
Wednesday, November 10th
Arrive in Johannesburg at 5:05pm
Stay the night in Hammanskraal
November 10th - 15th
Bethesda Children’s Village
November 16th- 21st –
Cosmo City
>Monday, November 22nd
Leave South Africa
Delta Flight 201 @ 8:20pm
Tuesday, November 23rd
Arrive in Atlanta @ 6:25am
DELTA Flight 6455
Arrive in Chattanooga @ 9:25am
www.genesis121.org

The Bible is God Speaking

In a time of many uncertainties we have exactly what we need to guide us, direct us, teach us and save us from ourselves. The Bible is the spoken word of God, God spoke it and man wrote it down. "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (1 Timothy 3:16-17)

I believe it is helpful to take a look at the present trends in the lives of Christians in order that we can gauge the temperature of our hearts, our minds and our souls. The Pew Forum on Religions and Public Life states in an article titled "Religion Among The Millennials" that young adults are "less religiously active than older Americans, but fairly traditional in other ways." In looking at this article and research what stuck out with me was the lack of belief in the Bible as the literal word of God. Literal word of God meaning as we interpret that here at The Church at Grace Point as; " The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy." From the pew research there is a trend forming in our country in which the Bible is not being seen as the truly inspired and literal word of God.

It is as important as ever that we stop and look at our own life and how our beliefs on scripture are effecting the way we live. We must realize that we can not look to our own logic, our own understanding or what we think todays standards dictate. We must hold fast to what is unchanging, what is 100% true and accurate. When we start veering from the truth we jeopardize sharing in the glory of the Lord as he continues to do a good work in us. We have a choice, we can take the whole scripture as God breathed, without error, and the final authority on every issue or we can try to figure it out for ourselves based on our own understanding. The latter which will certainly lead us in error. We must ask ourselves tough questions. Are we looking to God's word for guidance? Are we applying the full teaching of God's word, not simply picking and choosing what we want to tackle? I prayerfully submit authority to my Lord and Saviour who is perfect and sovereign in every way and choose to prayerfully study and apply the whole spoken word of God to my life, because that is His will.

A Family Serving

I wanted to send out a letter of thanks to all those who made the trip I took to Central Asia possible. I could not of asked for a better time visiting with, encouraging and delivering heart warming gifts to family serving in what other missionaries have called the end of the Earth. The Lord certainly answered prayer in providing the means for getting there, for purchasing items for the Vaughn's and for leaving them with some funds to be used at their discretion. Thank you for your gifts and your prayers.

With the money that was given we were able to fill two trunks with items that they just can't get where they are, some necessary items and some just to lift their spirits. For the kids especially it was like Christmas; K'Nex(lego like toys), Whale Wars the series, Bible study materials - Crazy Love, Beth Moore..., Man vs Wild the series, chocolate chip cookie dough mix, Bible word puzzles, tow ropes for pulling vehicle out of ditches, beef jerky, candy, board games, various cooking items, a lot of vitamins, Mario Brothers Wi game for the boys and a Safari Wi games for the girls, and many other miscellaneous items. The money left over from purchasing these items which totaled just over $1,000 was given for which they plan to use to help with the expenses for a vacation for the family. They have currently been working hard and living in tough conditions for over a year without a break and the funds will certainly help in getting their family of seven to a place where they can get a break and get refreshed a bit.

There are many highlights to the trip and if I had to categorize them I would do so in three separate areas: 1) Being a part of sharing the gospel in a place where 90% of the population is Muslim, 9% are non-religious and 1% are Christian. The people of this country I would best describe as hospitable, friendly and conversational but also unethical and immoral in many ways. They will often invite you into their home where they will serve you the best of what they have. One gentleman even invited us to stay with him and said that if we came he would kill a cow for us. The people of this country have many great qualities that I myself have learned from bu they need to hear and respond to the gospel in a major way. It was a true delight to be a part of three different conversations we had with nationals where my brother in-law through friendly talk opened up the gospel first to a taxi driver, on another occasion to an Imam (Mulsim priest) who we picked up on road as he was looking for a ride to the next village, and also to a barber and those in the shop listening in on the interesting conversation at hand. Of course my part in these conversations was extremely limited as I do not speak the language but was able to pick up on various words and was able to be a part through praying and delighting in the name of our Lord and Savior being proclaimed. In each situation it was a big honor to be a part of worshiping our Lord by sharing our need for his saving grace. 2) My second highlight of the trip would have to be spending quality time with the family encouraging each other. We were able to spend hours in conversation as we traveled by car and foot through a good part of the country, whether it was to and from the capital city, in and around the capital picking up various needed items, to and from villages where their "company" has water and bridge building projects going or simply back at the house during the evenings. It was certainly a joy to talk about and listen to their lives on the mission field, the things they enjoy and the things that are difficult. We talked of course about family, about church, about missions philosophies, the people they serve and are working to reach, about theology and more. I also enjoyed time talking with my sister in-law, who I am mentioned to one of the workers at the soup kitchen where they serve that Trichelle is the sister that I didn't have growing up. I being the middle of three sons. My conversation with my Sister in-law is usually what Yaunette relays to me, so it was so nice to get to hear her heart and about her life first hand. And of course my nephews and nieces who I have had the privilege of being at their births, changes their diapers, sharing in countless hours of their lives as we lived just four doors down in previous years. On the trip it was a pure joy playing games, seeing them laugh, talking about what they want to do with the rest of their lives, seeing them enjoy the company of each other and the respect they have for their parents, the nationals, their teammates and myself. 3) The third highlight would have to be the refreshing of my spirit and the encouragement I received through watching the Lord work in subtle but amazing ways. I feel somewhat guilty about this due to the fact that while I was away Yaunette was diligently taking care of our kids, but my prayers is that as I was refreshed she would be also. Through seeing prayer answered in the preparation for the trip, through studying the Word as I had the privilege to be the guest speaker at their Sunday church service, through morning devotions as my internal clock would not let me sleep past 5:00 AM, through experiencing the lives of my family on the field and God working through them I was encouraged.

To close things out as I could go on for much longer, we got a call yesterday from my sister in-law, and Yaunette was able to spend the good part of an hour talking with her sister. I won't go into detail about the conversation but she wanted us to know that the Lord has really been speaking to them over the past few weeks. In many different ways, including the trip that you made possible and prayed for, God has made his will evident to them as they have searched and prayed for clear direction on some very important decisions they have been weighing heavy here recently. So I want to thank you again for letting the Lord use you, for praying, for giving, for encouraging, for worshiping our Lord and Savior and helping the name of Jesus Christ be proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

In Christ, Matt

Pakistan In Need

Pray for the 8 million people in Pakistan who's lives have been turned upside down by the devastating floods. Relief efforts are being made but conditions are ripe for disease, malnutrition and serious sanitations issues. The number affected and in need is approximetly the population of New York City and more people than live in all of Tennessee.

Pray most importantly, as the physical needs are being met, that the saving grace of Jesus Christ will be presented to the people of Pakistan.

Here is further information on how you can help and pray.

TOGETHER

• Hope- Psalm 42:5
• Learn- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
• Grow- Ephesians 4:14
• Love- Matthew 22:37-40
• Serve- Mark 10:45
• Celebrate- 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
• Pray- John 16:24
• Support- Hebrews 10:24-25
• Encourage-Hebrews 10:24-25
• Worship- 1 Corinthians 10:31
• Build- Matthew 16:18
• Laugh- Romans 11:14-18
• Cry- Romans 11:14-18
• Reach- Acts 1:8
• Thrive- Isaiah 54:2-3

Life Points at Grace Point are places to enjoy God and his plan for our lives. As John Piper says "God is most Glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him".

Be sure to scroll over the verses above in order to explore further what living out life TOGETHER is all about.

Alive and Well

We all have a desire to be healthy, strong, vibrant and full of life and here most recently I had an experience that brought a fresh perspective my way that I see parallels the way Holy Spirit works through us and brings us alive.

Just last week I took part for the third time in a run with a long name and an even longer course, the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. The MMT100 is known as the hardest 100 mile trail race East of the Rockies and for reasons that include; the elevation gain which is somewhere around 17,000 ft and is enough uphill to get you from the base of Mount Mckinley to the summit, the second factor that makes this course so tough is the nature of the trails which is consist jagged rocks next to jagged rocks and best described as ankle breaking, foot pounding, knee bending, bone breaking and flesh eating.

My biggest fear before one of these races is not that I might have a poor showing, it's not that I might break something, nor is it a fear for all the suffering an exhaustion that I am about to subject myself to, it's that I might miss my alarm clock, oversleep and not be at the start. So I woke up at 3:50 AM at the sound of the door closing across the hall from my hotel room ten minutes prior to my alarm going off. I was able to get a descent night of sleep, about 5 hours, and it was nice that my internal alarm clock was working as back to the two alarms that I had set. Not sure it was a breakfast of champions but a banana and a Snickers provide a little bit of energy for the tank to get me going. I then added a hot cup of pre-race coffee provided at the start which rounded out my last ounce of preperation for the race at hand. At this point you would think the pressure would be mounting to get out and push the limit and finish well but really I felt a lot of relief and satisfaction that I made it to the start especially after months of preparing, 100's of miles of training, no injuries, after just having built and moved into a new house, after doing my best to help raise 5 young children, with my wife (who deserves much more credit for her endurance and perseverance than me) holding healthy and strong at 38 weeks pregnant.

I wont' bore you with all the minute details of the run, to be honest I usually forget most of them anyway, but know that there was sweeting, falling, one minor blister, black and blue toe nails, beautiful views, friendly runners (Todd, Mark, Aaron, Phil, Kieth, Neil) and aid station volunteers, people puking, running in the heat, running in the dark, whippoorwills singing, smooth running and some rough going. There was one moment that I do want go into detail about and was quite memorable for me and it happened around 39 miles into the race. Now 39 miles in a 100 mile race is only a little over a third of the way to finish miles wise and a quarter of the way time wise so it is certainly no time to be celebrating a good finish. Well celebrating I was, not a finish but some sort of high that can hardly be explained. I am not sure what spurred this moment of glory on, was it the fact that I was running smooth and my legs were still feeling fairly fresh, was it a little praise and worship time that I was having with me my ipod and God's creation, was it the 2x caffeine Espresso Love GU that I downed earlier or was it what runners refer to as "runners high". Whatever it was at that point I knew I had it in me to accomplish what I had set out to do which was to finish another 100 mile race, to redeem myself from last years DNF, to go out and have fun and to push the limits of my endurance abilities.

I was Alive and Well and this new found energy was so much like what the Holy Spirit does and can do in anybodies life no matter what they are doing or where they are at. I like John Piper's four effects of the Holy Spirit 1) The Holy Spirit Gives New Live 2)The Holy Spirit makes us not just life-getters but life-givers 3) The Holy Spirit witnesses to Jesus 4)The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.

As I look back at what gave me a vibrant strength that brought me to the finish line on Sunday morning at 3:30 AM, 22 hour and 30 minutes after we started and 5th place OA, I realize that it is not just the training, the support, what you eat, what you drink but it is also includes somethings that are completely necessary that you just can't put your hands on or totally understand.