Matt Short

I can’t get over God’s goodness… actually, more like God in general. He blows me away, and I think that’s absolutely right. He’s SO incomprehensible, SO indescribable, SO awe inspiring, SO indispensable, SO beyond us that it’s REDICULOUS for us to not praise Him. Think about the loftiness of the simple statement “God is good”… there’s so much wait in that one statement you could go on singing that your entire life and not run out of awe. I mean the seraphim crews around all day singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.” LUCKY PUNKS! haha Too often we put bounds on God as if we understand Him though, at least I feel I have in the past. As if we serve a God who we get… that’s such a foolish thought! I am proud to say I know things about my God but DO NOT know Him. If I did, would He be Go? God alone knows Himself. Ever since I left Auckland in April worship has struck my interest. Simply because of its ability to express the little that we do get, in the best way that we can, to give glory back to God. He deserves SO much and yet everything we give Him is SO finite in comparison to His infinite self. Think about this, “God DOES NOT need you!” haha. I don’t know about you but I’m getting off my high horse in thinking I am God’s own blessing to Himself, as if He needs some help waging eternal warfare on the Devil. I don’t know, that’s how I understand it. 

Beyond this I’ve been chewing on the idea of success and greatness. Even in Christian circles we can press greatness as a state of success true followers all achieve. Yet how contradictory of martyrdom that is! haha. Greatness is not measured by the amount of souls you’ve seen come to know Christ, your status in your church as a leader, nor your good deeds among men. I must correct myself to prevent from getting lost in the meaning of words. This is greatness when looked at from a religious non-believer’s point of view. Greatness in God’s eyes is something FAR different I am simply suggesting. Who is “greater”? Billy Graham or the man who never saw a soul come to know Christ a day of his life but spent every day sharing the gospel and Gods love with the homeless who lived in the next box over. I couldn’t make that judgment, but I think it comes down to one thing, “What have you done with that which God has given you?” This is greatness as I understand it right now, “Obeying God in what you know He’s told you to do, and making the most of how He’s made you.” If you have more to add please feel free to add… =) 

This next week I will be moving down the street to another house where I will be joined by a number of other staff members for a week of leadership training. We will be praying about outreach locations, plans for the school, and for our students. I’m SUPER excited about this next week because it’s also a time to grow together as staff before we try to lead together. The school starts in about two weeks on October 7^th and I can’t wait! It’s looking like we’ll have somewhere around 30 students and only 5 or 6 staff. We’re kinda itching for more staff members but will make due if this is all we get. Keep the school in your prayers and praise God for His goodness. 

This past weekend I got the privilege of taking a team of students to a small town called Methven because the staff were on a retreat. It was for a weekly event we put on where we invite anyone we run into from the ski slopes to a church down in town where we project snowboard movies on a screen, hang out, eating food and playing pool, ping pong and foosball. It was way cool!

The school paid for me and another intern to go up snowboarding with the students Saturday where we invited people to the event. I had a great time boarding, even though I sprained my elbow at the end of the day.

That night at the church went really well. I met tons of really nice backpackers. James was one of them, who was a Christian backpacker with some CRAZY cool stories. I brought him back to the base where he spent two nights getting to know the base and students. He’s returning to England in a week and is seriously considering doing a DTS. I can’t describe to you how excellent I feel this weekend went. Sorry for not really going into detail, I feel like junk right now because I’m sick.

Thank you for all your prayers, you guys are AMAZING!

God Bless

Eph. 2:10

So apparently we are God’s workmanship, or more precisely, his poem or his creative expression of love. And He has created us to do good works, meaning to creatively express our love back to Him. In his infinite wisdom and knowledge, all of these he has prepared in advance for us. In Jer. 29:11 it states that God has these “plans” but might I suggest that instead they are thoughts, well planned out thoughts of greatness. So in the grand scheme of things it seems that God has all these thoughts about us, hopes of what we might do. He has no set mark that we must reach, nor one specific goal that we must hit. He has predestined us from before birth with opportunities, possible experiences and greatness of many fashions that we might serve and bless him, creatively loving Him back for all His greatness. This is our chance, our opportunity to take hold of what we have to somehow give God glory for all He deserves. This is not only life, but life to the full, our gift from the beginning.

I don’t know if that will matter to anyone else but it feels good to process these thoughts in text. Otherwise, as in the past, they become pent up and all stacked upon each other in my head till I begin to forget them. It’s rather frustrating.

I am extremely excited about this week. My previous leaders from my trip to Auckland in January through February are here in Oxford for the week. It has been AMAZING to get to catch up with them. I feel like a part of their family and I love them SO much for the way God has used them in my life. I just want to give glory to God for how good he is to me.

This weekend I had the privilage of leading a team of students to a small town an hour away to hold an evening outreach event, thing, or whatever you’d like to call it. Basicly, every Saturday night we have a group of people go to Methven New Life Church to set up a cool hang out kind of atmosphere that we invite people to so that we might build relationships and the church. We watch snowboard videos, have games to play like ping pong and pool, and give out free food. That night we sleep in the church, and by church, I mean abandoned building in a back allie that is being used for sunday morning services. Then Sunday morning we attended and played worship at the church. It was a great night and about a couple dozen people came. I had some awesome conversations with people and even brought on of the guys back to base here. He’s an awesome man of God who showed up that night and shared a lot of his testimony with us. He was a huge encouragement to me, telling me about many acts of faith and walking out in the anoynting of the Holy Spirit during his travels so I figured why not bring him back to the base. He’s getting along great here and is thinking of doing a DTS when he returns home to England in a week.

I’m REALLY stoked about the rockin things God has been doing, and I am SUPER thankful for all of your prayers. They are the backbone to this ministry. God Bless

Being my fourth week here I’ve really gotten to know the students of the Snowboarder’s DTS and their staff. One thing I can not get over is the amount of energy I see in these guys. This applies to around the base, messing around, living life, and most importantly in their spiritual walks with God. Never have I seen so many young people on fire for God that are just crazy! It’s a huge encouragement to me to see people who are genuine about their faith and stoked to use their talents to serve God.   

All my leaders are excellent and their faith is encouraging, but God has blessed me with two specifically incredible mentors for while I’m here. These guys have, not only made me feel welcome, but I feel are the kind of men I could trust in rebuke and can look up to for an extra push when I need it. I thank God SO much for His provision.   

My daily life is busy but simple as a base intern. I get up early, get cleaned up, have breakfast, study a bit then I’m off to my work. I am in charge of maintaining the base’s 13 vehicles, 8 bikes, and the student computers. Whether it’s basic fluid checks on the vehicles, doing minor fix-up jobs, repairing bikes or cleaning computers and running spyware scans, my time seems to easily stay filled. The base has lunch around 1 pm and then I’m back to work till dinner at 6pm. The nights and weekends I have off though there are commonly events that will fill the night up. I have gotten the opportunity to sit in on a couple lectures which the students have between breakfast and lunch, and they have been super rewarding! Three of the four men I have heard speak I met on my last trip here so it has been nice to catch up with them again. As well, Jay and Erin, the guys I interned under on my last trip, will be coming down this next week to teach on the DTS. I’m really excited to see them again! They are a great couple and have been a huge blessing in my life.  

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go to the west coast with a bunch of students where we had a great time. We stayed in a hostel in Punakaiki which is a blip of a city halfway down the west coast, absolutely beautiful though. My favorite part of the weekend was going to a cave stream. We weren’t able to climb far into it but I’m hoping to return soon with wet suits and climb through it. I’ve had such a great time taking pictures since I’ve been here, and I’ve tried to post a number of them so I hope you enjoy them.  

I wrote a book report for my internship this past week and I got an A+ which I’m pretty stoked about seeing how I don’t think I ever got an A+ on a paper in high school. I’ll probably post it on here first so you can see that, if you’d like. Hope you enjoy it, I learned quite a bit from the book.  

 My only major prayer request right now is that you would pray for my mom. She is within days of giving birth to another son and I would love you to pray protection over her, and strength through this operation. Thank you  

      Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders has been a challenging read in many ways. It has made me re-evaluate my approach in leadership. It has opened my eyes to the significance of self-discipline in the life of a leader or anyone who is considering becoming one. It has shown me how crucial it is as a spiritual leader to remain a man who can confront and rebuke yet comfort in it’s timing. It has shook my view of what it means to be thought well of by all. Most importantly though, it will always be a valuable reference that will continue to challenge me when I struggle in leadership.

      Spiritual Leadership is a book full of “one liners”. Sanders does an excellent job in addressing issues such as integrity in ambition, leadership qualities that are essential, prayer in leadership, a leader’s responsibilities, as well as providing an adequate amount of illustrations to support each point. It can be difficult to digest, troubling when it hits home, and despite the numerous spelling and grammatical errors a good read. Here are some key points that have made an impression on my view of leadership.

      Age is something, in many cultures, that comes with respect and dignity. Subordinates are expected to never rise above such authority and will inevitably never “climb the ladder”. PRAISE GOD his kingdom is far from that circumstance! In this way I relate very easily to Timothy. The Lord has used many mighty men of the faith to discipline me and help me get to a position of leadership that otherwise I would have never received, such was the case with Paul and Timothy. Being so young in leadership, it’s encouraging to hear Paul, a man revered by every Christian, instruct Timothy by saying, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (Timothy 4:12)

      The encouragement is that despite my age I can attain whatever status of leadership the Lord l desires, although it comes with a challenge as well. Living a life that speaks volumes of why I am who the Lord has made me; not proving myself to anyone, for it is not theirs to judge, but giving testimony to what is His.

“Jesus told His disciples, ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you’ (John 15:16). The sovereign selection of God gives great confidence to Christian workers. We can truly say, ‘I am here neither by selection of an individual nor election of a group, but by the almighty appointment of God.’” p.22-23

My prayer in this is that I would live faithfully, holding fast to that appointment. Along with being appointed, predestined, and set apart comes responsibility and what a great blessing that is.

      Our strength in the Holy Spirit is highly tied to our ability to put faith in His will, thus it is fitting for us to spur our followers on in such a way. A spiritual leaders ability to push his followers on in faith is a crucial part of his role.

“Faith builds faith. Pessimism dismantles faith. The spiritual leader’s primary task is to build the faith of others.” p165

It is our obligation as the Lord’s servants in spiritual leadership to inspire faith, to encourage when down trodden, and bring hope in despair. Nehemiah shook with fear when he was commissioned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, yet his faith was fully in the Lord and that’s all he needed, faith. (Nehemiah 2:2) Others would follow, many would become discouraged, yet he had faith and with it the Lord would do great things. This was key in the Lord’s will for this land. He needed a man who would hold fast in faith and spur others on in the same. Nehemiah did just that with the full construction of the wall though the people fell into disbelief and despair many times. (Nehemiah 6:15) The Lord asks the same of us all, to have faith and turn the tides of disbelief when it sweeps over his people. This can only be done by His grace and it shall be.

      The more I am learning to step out as a leader and take responsibility the more I learn the significance of time management and self-discipline. “Spiritual Leadership” has shown me that in many cases I am daydreaming while others pray, wasting time while others work, and snoozing while others study and if all that the Lord has for me is to happen then this isn’t enough. It isn’t enough for me to allow my brothers in Christ to “return to their vomit” as if I didn’t love them as I do.

      It’s not going to cut it to make excuses for why the goal wasn’t accomplished with ample time and supplies. I won’t stand for it any longer!

“The young man of leadership caliber will work while others waste time, study while others snooze, pray while others daydream. Slothful habits are overcome whether in thought , deed, or dress. The emerging leader eats right, stands tall, and prepares himself to wage a good warfare. He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant task that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it wins no public applause. As the Spirit fills his life, he learns not to shrink from difficult situations or retreat from hard-edged people. He will kindly and courageously administer rebuke when that is called for, or he will exercise the necessary discipline when the interests of the Lord’s work demand it. He will not procrastinate, but will prefer to dispatch with the hardest tasks first.” p. 53

All I could do when I read this was mark it heavily, writing “I want this!” and pray that the Lord would teach me discipline and convict me in love when I am living otherwise. Shortcuts and beating around the bush makes one miss the fullness of the Lords blessings. Loving confrontation in Jesus Christ’s name is always met with rich blessings, and that’s nothing easy to get good at.

“If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.” p. 119

This is very simply put. It’ll take effort, and MUCH of it to ever become the true man or woman of God that He has called us to. Many times it has been said that we as YWAMer’s are to change this generation. When will I feel the fatigue? Have we settled for mediocrity when the Lord is looking for those who’ll expend themselves on his behalf?

      This book has left me in a state of discomfort, distraught and wishing to make changes in my habits, speech, decisions, and relationships. For that I am thankful yet it is difficult to see where to begin. No understanding nor profound revelation I have already had will bring conclusion to this book or report for me. Though, by fervent prayer and meditation on all I’ve learned, the Lord will instruct me on how to make the changes I wish to see.