The Future

For those of you who don’t know, I’m going on a bit of an adventure starting next month. I have resigned from my position at DPC and don’t have a clear vision for the future. I know that it will include another short trip to Uganda (at least 3 weeks in July), and some time in Washington DC (northern Uganda Lobby Days at the end of June), but other than that it’s up in the air. For the fun of it I decided to write a quick list of possibilities that have entered my mind:

1. Take off my shoes, empty my wallet, grab my Bible and just start walking.

2. Start a non-profit to promote radical unity within the body of Christ.

3. Wander around Africa as the Spirit leads.

4. Join forces with my brother to bring the gospel to unreached people groups.

5. Start a church in Selma.

6. Intern with Jesse and help him push the cart so he can retire.

7. Find a way to get paid for being Matt Naylor.

8. Live off of the generosity of my amazing friends and encourage them in their walks with God.

9. Offer to work for food and housing for any ministry who just needs a little extra help and encouragement.

10. Become an internet phenomenon (this may be closely related to #7).

11. Walk through whatever door God opens when I’m in Uganda.

12. Pray and wander until I have seen how God is at work in the following places: Guatemala, Thailand, India, Swaziland, Australia, and throughout East Africa.

13. Keep writing until I get something published.

14. See if I can get kicked out of a seminary. Preferably for loving Jesus and believing the Bible rather than for anything related to #10.

15. Find a wife who is willing to join me in any of the preceding ventures.

A quick rant on “divine appointments” and “life changing moments”

The phrases “divine appointment” and “life changing moment” annoy and entertain me at the same time.  They entertain me because people use them to signify moments where they see God’s sovereignty – and that makes my little predestinarian heart leap for joy.   They annoy me because people often use them to limit God’s sovereignty to those exact same moments.

Think about it.  If we label meeting someone a “divine appointment” then what does that mean for all the other times we’ve met people?  Those words seems to make some arbitrary distinction between encounters that God ordains and ones that are somehow ordinary, or un-divine.  Call me crazy (people often do) but I honestly believe that each and every encounter we have is divine.  Each time I interact with someone is an opportunity for Christ in me to call out something in the other person that only the image of God in me can.  It is also an opportunity for me to grow more like Christ by allowing the image of God in the other person to challenge and shape me.  Strangely enough, the more I approach life from that perspective the more “divine appointments” I have.

And then the whole concept of something being “life changing” just seems like an oxymoron to me.  It simultaneously affirms and denies predestination in two little words.  Track with me as I try to unpack that.  Generally what people mean when they say something changed their life is that they felt their life was heading in a specific direction and that an event caused that direction to shift.  In saying that the direction was already laid out they are affirming the idea that life is already planned.  But then it changed… I’m sorry but I just can’t reconcile those things.  If it was laid out in advance then how can it be changed?  Either it is being unfolded according to a plan or it is being developed with each descision that you make.  In either case life remains unchanged.  It is being revealed or formed – not changed.

Anyway, I hope this little rant has divine timing and changes your life

Random Points

A friend of mine introduced me to the concept of random points. Basically, you accumulate points based on actions and conversations that come out of the blue. The more confused the people around you, the more points you accumulate. This could include random injections into conversation or bizarre interactions. For example:

“Just for random points,” I said mischievously as I reached into my pocket to get something. I placed the object on the footrest in front of her.

With consternation and amusement she voiced the perfect words, “What is that!?”

“It’s a dog wearing sunglasses. I found it on the ground.”

Random points achieved.