Available Now!

Announcing the release of our 4 song EP “Trying and Failing” !!

4 all original songs from everyone’s favorite band The Lone Strangers.

$4 if you get it from us in person. $5 if we have to mail it to you.

Contact me to get a hold of one!

This is a post about last Saturday.

“But Matt,” you say, “it’s Wednesday!”

Well, you are correct. Today is Wednesday (I think?). I was waiting for a few things before I posted this, but neither have happened. 1) I am waiting for pictures from Scott’s camera, so we can add visuals to this, and 2) I was waiting to recover, mentally and physically, from one of the most exhausting days in my last year.

Saturday, the Lone Strangers, and about 8 other members of the Tech crew, went to Decorah, IA to provide lights, sound, staging, and a Rockin time for Hogfest, an outreach event of Grace Community Church.

It was most certainly a day and a half. [...]

I was going to post about a thought I was having on Lamentations 3, but instead, I am going to post this:

I’m pretty sure Archie is half raccoon. How do i know? His tail looks like a raccoon tail.

Also, if nancy and I ever have a kid, will Archie be its brother?

Daniel 3:14-27 NLT (emphasis mine)

Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments, all will be well. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. What god will be able to rescue you from my power then?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully clothed. And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames leaped out and killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in! So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell down into the roaring flames. But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes,” they said, “we did indeed, Your Majesty.” “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire. They aren’t even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a divine being!” Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Then the princes, prefects, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!

There is some really wicked theology (and amazing happenings) in this little passage, but I want to point out a few things.

First, the conviction of S,M, and A. They would not break God’s law for anything. Even in the face of (a rather painful) death at the hands of a (very powerul) king, they would not break God’s command.

Easy, you say, they knew God was fully capable of saving them from the fire. But, you see, the three of them had no idea how the story would turn out! They had no idea whether God would pull them out of the fire or not. “BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T you can be sure we won’t worship ANYTHING besides God”. The consequence of death was not even a consideration in their little “dilema”.

Second, they got to see an amazing thing happen! A fire so hot, that the guards who threw them in, died, and the three of them didn’t even smell like smoke when they walked out! That and they got to chill with an angel in the furnace (hehe… chill… in the furnace…).

But (third) you know where this all started? The real power of this story starts way back in chapter one verse eight:

But Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.

Daniel, and S,M and A, refused to eat the food the king gave them because it didn’t meet God’s food law requirements of the time. A stupid, little, insignificant, mundane, no-one-would-have-noticed-or-cared decision! But these were men of conviction.

Luke 16:10

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much”

So the other day I was really stressed out and mentally aimless, and all those other good things that go along with not connecting with God for a few days. I decided to crack open the one year to quell my useless wanderings through the thousands of pages of God’s scripture.

I think the spirit gave me a “rema” on 2 Corintians 5:1-10:

For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Ahh… my soul was refreshed like a parched man by a cool glass of water.

That I spit back out in surprise. WAIT A MINUTE! THAT’S NOT VERY ENCOURAGING!!!

Let’s pick this apart here, shall we?

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

matt’s translation: “Life is hard, there are a lot of burdens when we are doing God’s work, and we groan under the pressure, wanting to take off this corrupt flesh, and put on new, perfect flesh. And the guy who made us ready to bear this task is God, who promises us that he is with us through the burdens, and promises that, some day, we’ll get to have new flesh, and no burdens”

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evi

matt’s translation: “So hang in there! while we’re here we are away from God, walking by faith because we sure as heck can’t see him! Yup, hang in there, you’d rather be with god than here, but sorry, you’re not. The best advice I can offer you is to make sure you please Christ because someday, you are going to get what you deserve for the things you have done. (and if you are with Christ, you’ll only get what you deserve for the good things, not the bad, Christ already took the bad…)”

Now, this gives me something wonderful to look forward to, but doesn’t help me out very much right here and now! This verse seems to be saying “yup, life is hard, but someday you’ll die and then it will be better”.

sigh

not very comforting. but you know.. i’m not sure God means for us to be comfortable on this planet…