Can a Cat Grow on You?

So we own a cat.  No, we have a cat.  I mean, my boys have a cat. No, my 8 year old has a cat.  My 8 year old has a cat that we all take care of.  Kind of... I mean, my mother-in-law takes care of the cat mostly.

I'm not super fond of the cat.  She's a black cat named Shadow.  She pretty much stays to herself most of the time.  She sleeps all day and then goes outside at night. (Except when its cold outside, then she stays in...)

Anyway, about a month and a half ago, the cat started coming into my office at home at 6 am when I would wake up and read my Bible. (We call this SOAP, Click the link to learn more.)  Well, at first she would just lay across the room and stare at me with that "why are you awake this early?" look.  But after a couple of weeks, she made her way down beside my chair where I subsequently began petting her.

So, late last week, as I was reading away, all of a sudden I look down and she's got her 2 front paws up on my chair with this, "Will you let me come up and lay down with you?" look.  Awe come on!!! Why do cats have to be cute like that?  So I slid over, which scared her and she ran off.  Only to come back less than a minute later and find ample room for her on the chair... with me.

Up she came, and as if she were playing out some nasty, manipulative scheme, she placed her head on my arm and looked up at me with her big green eyes!  Awe come on!!!  Seriously, what's next? Eating at the table with us???

I think we bonded... but don't tell anyone.  The cat might be growing on me.

I don't know...

Keller

What People are saying about, "The Up the Middle Church"

The launch of the book has been extremely successful over the past 10 days!  Thanks to so many of you who are already ordering it, reading it and buying copies for your entire leadership teams to go through together!

Here are a couple of quotes from Early Readers...

"This book is a Permissional Roadmap for my church and my leaders..."

"This book is going to impact the church in the US, big time..."

"We've been waiting for a book like this... thanks."



If you haven't already go to www.UptheMiddle.com and check out the site, join the community, & order the book for you and your team. (There are big discounts when you order multiple copies!)

Oh yeah, and tell someone else who could use a resource like this,

Thanks everyone,

Matt

Fear is not a Growth Strategy

I opened the pages of Entrepreneur Magazine today and Amy Cosper, the Editor in chief, had some amazing things to say.  Here are a few quotes to encourage all of us today!

"The situation (of the economy) is making normally rational people act like loonies.  It's fear. And its a real business issue these days.  But fear makes for a really crappy growth strategy."

Later she writes, "When you let fear infiltrate your strategic plan, you will fail to thrive in any economy.  After all, fearlessness is what distinguishes entrepreneurial DNA."

To every business owner, entrepreneur, church planter or leader I want to encourage you today to not let fear rule you right now!  2 nights ago I was awake at 2:30 in the morning worrying about stuff.  (I'm sure you can relate!)  After spending along time in prayer, I felt like the Lord reminded of the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14.

One particular verse has been on my mind since then.  v. 30 says, "But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink..."

Here's what I know:  We CANNOT get our eyes on the wind and waves!  As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was able to walk on water, but when he got his eyes on his circumstances, he sank.

We must keep our eyes on Jesus! He is the author and finisher of our faith!  He is the one who can hold us up when the wind and waves are crashing all around us!  Don't give up.  Don't let fear drive you to irrational thinking and behavior! Stay the course!  God is right beside, & He is able to catch you when you start to sink!

Fear is not a Growth Strategy.  Faith is.  Keep the Faith today!

Keller

The Book has Launched!!! www.UptheMiddle.com

The Day has finally arrived!!!  My New Book, The Up the Middle Church, has launched!

The book is written for pastors, church leaders and church planters who are doing ministry One Yard at a Time!

The Long-Bomb's get all the press, but the majority of the game is played Up the Middle!

I am confident that every person reading this blog right now knows at least one leader who is an Up-the-Middle leader!

I need your help getting the word out about this... Will you send this link to everyone you are thinking about right now?

If you order the book through www.UptheMiddle.com, there is a HUGE savings over using Amazon.com, or another big name bookseller.

Also, the book includes a special "Questions for the Huddle" section after each chapter which makes the book ideal for entire church teams to read and study together!

So... if you order 5 or 10 copies from UptheMiddle.com, you can save $2 or even $4 per copy!

I can't wait to hear your feedback from the book,

Thanks for going to UptheMiddle.com now to purchase your copy of The Up the Middle Church.  And for telling others about this incredible resource as well.  I would have given anything to have a resource like this 7 years ago when we began Next Level Church.

There's a New Normal in the church world today, & it's The Up the Middle Church.

Matt Keller

S o I can't find the Bank...

So I have a deposit that I need to make in my friend's account who doesn't live in the USA.  And I have had his money ready to go for like 2 or 3 weeks now, but he doesn't bank where I bank, and I don't really know where his bank is.

So everytime I get in my car I think to myself, "Oh yeah, I need to make that deposit for him, but I don't know where that bank is..."  Like 25 times in 2 weeks, literally I have said that out loud.  Every time someone gets in my car I have to move the money and say, "Oh sorry, I need to deposit that for a friend..."

So this morning as I'm driving away from dropping off my kids at their school, I noticed that the door wasn't closed in the back.  I pull over into a parking space right before I pull onto the main road and as I get out of the car, I say out loud, "Hey there's a Wachovia bank... that's where I need to make that deposit."

I had literally been driving through the parking lot of the bank everyday and hadn't even noticed.  Unbelievable.

Unfortuantely, I was in my wife's van... so I didn't have the check to deposit.  figures...

So the good news is I found the bank, the bad news is, I feel like an idiot...

Perfect for a Monday morning,

Have a great day,

Matt

Oh yeah, I just gave the check to my mother-in-law and she said she would do it for me. Nice.

A Bonus Leadership Challenge

To view this blog as a video blog click here

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Proverbs 21:8  (The Message)  “Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road.”

8.  The Motives of a Leader.

I love that Proverbs comes back to the motives issue again just a few verses after talking about it in verse 2.  Because a leader’s motives are just that important.

This verse reveals that when our motives are twisted, our life gets tangled up.  Ever experienced that?  Ever found things getting complicated around you and when you started to sort it all out, it was simply because you had let a bad motive get in the mix?  If you’re married, then you most definitely know what I mean! ☺

If we want our leadership to go “down a straight road” then the only way to do that is by keeping our motives pure.  When our hidden agenda is about self-promotion and not the good of others, the path will be crooked.  We must check our motives everyday as we make decisions that effect the lives of so many God has entrusted us to influence.

? What decision have you made in the last week that was motivated by wrong or impure motives?  I bet you there is at least one.  Think about it for a minute, you’ll find one.

Just a Leadership Bloggish thought,

Matt

S.O.A.P. is it!

Hey everyone,

If you heard the message from Sunday, January 4th, you know that we as a church are taking the 21 Day Challenge in terms of ready our Bibles & daily spending time with God in His Word!  In preparation for Vision Sunday, January 25th, which is a Must-Attend for the entire NLC Family!  It's going to be incredible!

Anyway... Today is day 3 of the challenge, which means we're ready John chapter 3.  I read it this morning in the message Bible and was blown away! If you've never read this chapter in the message Bible, you've gotta take 5 minutes right now and and do it!  Here's a link...

John 3 (The Message)

it's the Gospel laid out in the most simple terms ever!!!

The 1st part is about Nicodemus a guy who has sincere questions about Jesus.

The 2nd part is about John's disciples getting jealous about Jesus's rise to fame.

And the 3rd part is about as clear of the difference between someone who has embraced Jesus and someone who hasn't.  It's the difference between seeing God as Light, and everything in life making sense, and someone thinking that God is just darkness and heaviness and seeing God as a Dark, Black cloud hovering over their life!

I was so inspired.  Enjoy your S.O.A.P. today.  (For more information on S.O.A.P. listen to the message from Sunday, which is linked to the right, or go to www.NextLevelChurch.com/soap)

Leadership Challenge #6

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Proverbs 21:6 (The Message) “Make it to the top by lying and cheating; get paid with smoke and a promotion – to death.”

6.  The Integrity of a Leader.

A while back I came across some information about a leader I had once admired greatly.  The information confirmed that this leader had not been the person of integrity I was led to believe they were.  In the days following, I found myself questioning whether any leader could actually live uprightly and run the race with integrity.

In trying to process through my questions, I called a friend of mine, Pastor Rick Bezet, who leads New Life Church in Little Rock, AK.  On the phone that day, Rick challenged me with this thought, he said, “This has everything to do with you & your heart.  Because you can flip a switch right now and check out.  And if you do, you’ll spend the next 20 years of your life “faking” everybody out, because you’re really good at what you do.  Or, you can decide to wrestle with God, like Jacob did, and become a true man of integrity that can be the real deal kind of leader that that other guy was not.”

I want to be the real deal.  Not some fake.  I wrestled with God.  And I’m seeking to live out my leadership life with authenticity and integrity to the absolute core of my being.

I hope you are too.

Matt

Leadership Challenge #5

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Proverbs 21:5  (The Message)  “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind.”

5.  The Plan of a Leader.

I can’t remember a time when I waited until the last minute on anything and ended up with the best possible product or outcome.  Not in driving somewhere, or putting something together, or in sermon or message preparation.  The writer of this proverb hits many of us hard right between the eyes.

How often are we guilty of procrastinating that which is Most Important to the organizations and people we lead?  How often do we fail to plan effectively and consequently give those we’re trusted to lead an inferior product… a mediocre outcome.

Peace and Joy live in the planning.  If you want to enjoy your work more, do the hard work of doing the most important work first.  Plan ahead, it’s just better.

? Where are you putting off that which is most important?

Matt

Leadership Challenge #4

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Proverbs 21:4  (The Message) “Arrogance and pride – distinguishing marks in the wicked – are just plain sin.”

4.  The Biggest Temptation of a Leader.

No question about it, one of the greatest struggles a leader can face is Arrogance and pride.  I recently made the comment to some pastor friends of mine that, “the ministry is an extremely prideful place.”  There’s just something about the ministry that causes good men (& women) to get prideful, territorial & insecure.

I want to be a leader that checks pride and arrogance at the door.  There’s a big difference between walking in a God Confidence in what you’re called to be and to do and being arrogant or prideful.

Learning the difference can often be the difference maker between a leadership legacy of mediocrity and greatness for God.

Deep… very deep.

Matt

Leadership Challenge #3

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Proverbs 21:3  (The Message)  “Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors mean far more to God than religious performance.”

3.  The 2 Great Commands of a Leader.

I like that the writer of this proverb lays out what we’re really supposed to focus our time and attention on as leaders.  Not “religious performance” but Living right before God and living right before others.

Jesus echoed these same sentiments when He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”  In fact, He said these are the two greatest commandments.

Excellent Leadership Advice from the Greatest Leader of all time…

? How’s your lifestyle? Is it pleasing to God? And does it serve others?

Just another Leadership Bloggish thought,

Matt

Leadership Challenge #2

To view this blog post as a video blog click here:

http://www.tokbox.com/vm/xe7b9yxohr68

2.  The Undercurrent of Leadership.

Proverbs 21:2  (The Message)  “We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives.”

Verse 2 is a continuation of verse 1 in this regard.  That which is unseen beneath the current of our leadership is the undercurrent… our motives.  Our motives, as leaders, play a HUGE role in how we lead, where we lead, and the pace of our leadership.

It’s easy as a leader to “justify” as the verse says, our actions by the way things look, but we can never forget that God knows our heart.

If we don’t do the hard work of judging our heart’s motivations in how we lead, God will be forced to.  The wise leader submits their motives to God before God calls them on the carpet.

? When was the last time you sincerely checked your motives as a leader?

Matt Keller

Year End Leadership Challenges

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As the year comes to an end, I found some "Leadership Challenges" from the book of Proverbs, chapter 21.  I hope they challenge you like they're challenging me.

By the way, they're all taken from the Message Bible which I just love the vividness of the language.

Thanks for tracking along with my blog,

Keller

Proverbs 21:1  (The Message)  “Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.”

1.  The Current of Leadership.

There is a powerful principle in this verse about what I would call, “The Current of Leadership.”  From this Proverb we can see that Leadership is like a river.  It has limitations and is driven by a strong current.  However, the course of the current is directed by God.

I can see a mighty river in my mind with a strong current flowing inside the banks and to a destination.  Our leadership must be the same way.  It must have movement, flow and a destination.  If we lack any of those things, we are simply unbridled water which has the power to destroy anything it touches.

However, if we keep ourselves inside of “God’s banks” we end up at our destination just fine and sweep many along with us as well.

Just a Bloggish Leadership thought,

Matt Keller

Trying a New Upgrade ... Video Blogging

Hey everyone, 3 days to Christmas! what's up now! I'm so excited.

As many of you I'm sure notice, I always sign off of every blog post with: "Just a Bloggish Thought..." Well, as you've noticed I've been on a bit of a "Bloggish Break" the last few weeks and I just wanted to officially let you know that I'm back from my "Bloggish Break" with some brand new, "Bloggish Thoughts." Hope you enjoy,

AND...

I found a great new, free video website that is changing my world, seriously. It's called Tokbox.com and it's all web based and absolutely free!

So here's the deal, I'm going to try to "video blog" as well as regular blog for the final series of posts this year. I hope it works, and I can't to hear (& see) your comments about it

You can expect the first video post to show up tomorrow morning.

They're on 'Leadership Challenges' from Proverbs 21.
To see a sample of tokbox and find out how to sign up check out this link...

http://www.tokbox.com/vm/m975in5zjag1

See you tomorrow,

keller

My Christmas List - A Humorous Look

At the risk of getting comments like, "Dude, you're so selfish." or "Why are you making Christmas all about you?"  I want to discuss a very important and strategic part of my Christmas ritual... My Christmas List.

Right around Thanksgiving every year, I release my "Official" Christmas List.  It lives on the counter, or frig, or somewhere that everyone who wants / needs to see can see it.  Every once in a while I get a weird look from a "Non-List-Making" individual.  I don't let it throw me, but I feel obliged to explain my logic for "My List."  I shall use this blog to do so...

5 Reasons Why I Make a Christmas List Each Year:

1.  "You have not because you ask not." I'm not saying I'm quoting scripture exactly accurately here, but it's true... I don't assume that loved ones, friends, or perfect strangers for that matter are "picking up my hints" along the way.  Christmas morning is just too important to leave to chance!

2  "It's hereditary." I have to tell on my dad on this one.  He's a list maker at Christmastime too.  So I come by it honestly.  I watching my dad get what he wanted because he made a list.  Thanks dad!

3.  "It's just practical." If I'm being honest with you, I just like getting stuff I want on Christmas morning.  No need for surprises, just stick to the list and nobody gets hurt, you know...

4.  "It's all about the love, baby." Gifts are one of my favorite love languages, so come on somebody, love me!

5.  "Everyone's just happier." Who doesn't love getting something they really, REALLY want?!? I mean really?  When people get you what you want, even if it's silly stuff like "New cool looking, 1.00 magnification reading glasses" it just makes a guy happy!

So there you have it, agree or disagree, the reality stands.  I am a List-Maker, and at the Christmas Season, I will make my list proudly and without reservation, because hey, I love Christmas Morning!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Matt

Does This Thing Need an Overhaul???

So the next big question that is in order concerning the Digital Extension of MWK's life is:  "Does this blog need an overhaul?"  Help me with this one:

3 Choices:

1.  A New Name.

2  A New Look.

3.  A Everything.

Give me some detail as to why you think we need to overhaul that area and specifics on what we could do with this thing.  Afterall, the virtual sky is the limit...

Thanks for the help,

Keller

5 Weeks of Service - Story of Life-Change

I couldn't wait to share with all of you a story of life-change that I got to be a part of.  Over the past few weeks, we've been doing our "5 Weeks of Service" every Saturday mobilizing a couple hundred Next Level Church attenders to serve our community in various ways each week!

It's been so incredible!  So today, one of the 4 places that our teams went was to Doug Morris's house!  Doug is a single dad raising 3 kids on his own.  Doug has been apart of NLC for like 4 years and brings his kids faithfully to NLC every single week!  Doug works hard just to put food on the table for his family.

So when the NLC community service team showed up to give his house an "NLC Extreme Home Makeover" he was blown away.  In 1 day, the NLC team completely ripped up the entire living room and kitchen floor, and the 2 kid's bedrooms!  They repainted the entire interior of the house, put up a Cars border in the boys room, and princess wallpaper in the girl's room!  They patched a hole in the side of the house and replaced rotted floor boards in the kitchen under the refrigerator!

Then... with Tile and Hardwood that was donated by an EXTREMELY GENEROUS BUSINESS OWNER in our church, they gave the family beautiful new flooring throughout the 2 kids bedrooms and the living area!

What the NLC community service team did is absolutely life changing for Doug and his family!

And this is just 1 of the many projects that NLC has been doing to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of people across Southwest Florida!

I am so proud of all of you who have given your time, talent and treasure this Christmas Season to make a difference.  I am blown away that I get to be your pastor!

Thanks for making the season bright for so many,

Pastor Matt

Pray for Next Level Church, New Hampshire!!!

I just got off the phone with Josh Gagnon, the pastor of one of our daughter churches, Next Level Church, New Hampshire.  The ice storm has hit them extremely hard, and they and most all of the 300 + people in their church are without power and staying in hotels!!!  The Gagnons have 2 kids under 3 years old!!!

so listen to this though... They decided to do what no other church is doing to reach people no one else is reaching, so they worked it out with a "Chili's type restaurant" called Marguarita's to serve the entire community FREE BREAKFAST at the restaurant tomorrow morning instead of having church.  So they have tons of food donated from Wal-Mart and other Grocery stores!!!

They also mobilized all their church people to put flyers under every hotel room door in the entire city!!!  They literally are influencing the entire region during this crazy, stressful tragic time!  All the TV stations are reporting on it as well!!!

Pray for them that they can live Jesus and serve people tomorrow!  Their website is:

www.NLC.tv

Thanks,

Matt

The Jury is In... and the Verdict is...

So after 8 days of deliberating and hearing the evidence from all of "ya'll" (I was in Texas last weekend) I have decided to CONTINUE with the Blog in 2009.  But I think some modifications are in order, and as a good American, I want all of you to weigh in and help me decide what direction we should tailor the content:

3 Choices Include:

1.  Random Personal Funny Stuff.

2.  Leadership Insights I'm learning.

3.  Random Church Stuff.

Of course this list isn't exhaustive, but I want to make sure that I'm adding the most value to your lives with the time you're willing to dedicate to the reading of the blog.

Thanks for helping me Modify the Digital Extension of MWK to the world,

Matt

If a Blogger stops Blogging, Does anybody care?

I'm just wondering if a Blogger (like me) stops blogging and instead just does twitter and facebook, would the world really miss my blog?

I mean really...

Would they?  I swear I'm not looking for petty little "Aw, Matt, you're so awesome and wonderful" sentiments either.  I mean, what if twitter is the new "Insta-blog"?

If so, I think it's just a lot better use of my time,

thoughts?

Keller

NBC News Interview

NBC News interviewed me earlier today, after getting home and taking a shower!

Click Here to View!

We're Home!

 

We are home!  What a trip.  I will update more through the week, but man it's good to be back in America!!

Thanks to everyone who was praying.  I am feeling much better and we are all so glad that we made our flights.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving,

Matt

Pray for Matt

(Sarah here)

I don't have many details, but the team did go to Agra (to see the Taj Mahal).  On the way there, Matt got very sick.  He spent the day in the hospital getting IV fluids and antibiotics.  The word is that he is feeling better, but now they have to travel for the next 24 hours.

Please pray for him that he has complete healing and can rest on the trip home!

Thanks everyone!

The I-Team is Safe!

Hey blog world.  This is Sarah Keller (Matt's wife).

I am writing to let you know that the India team is safe.  We have received texts from them.  They are currently in New Dehli and are leaving at 4 pm on Thursday (EST Time), but will go to the airport earlier than expected.  So, pray for safety over the next 20 hours.

Also, we are so thankful that our team is not in Mumbai, but are very aware that hundreds of lives are being affected by these attacks.  Please pray for those families as well.

The team sent this verse to us:

Psalm 34:4  "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

Thank you all for praying.

Tour of Vizag

Yesterday was a great day to hang out together and celebrate all that God has done. We had breakfast and then took a tour of Vizag City.  We climbed to the top of a mountain and got to see the entire city from up there.  We took a cable car down the mountain which was really cool.

We saw the Bay of Bengal which is the Indian Ocean. Unreal.  For lunch we ate at an Indian Buffet which was fun.  There is Cricket on TV everywhere over here.  Which has the same sort of look of Baseball, but is completely different let me tell you!!!

The afternoon was spent shopping for last minute Saree’s and gifts for our friends and family.  Then last night we were in the chapel service for the seminary students.  I got to speak on what I’ve learned about ministry in the last 12 years. It was a great time, and definitely a highlight for me.  I love developing young leaders.

Today we fly to Delhi, a city of 25 million people and will see some of the sights of Delhi before taking the 4 hour trip to Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is (will be there for Thanksgiving day.)

The plan is to fly out of Delhi at about 2 am in route for Chicago, IL, USA by Friday about 6 am and then be back in Fort Myers by Noon on Friday!  It’s going to be a whirlwind the next few days but we’re enjoying every minute of it!  The team has been truly great.

Keep praying for “Journey Mercy” as they say over here.

Love to all the friends and family who are praying for us,

Matt Keller and the I-Team

Big Day for the I-Team

Monday here in India was a huge day for the team.  We started by going into a nearby village for a medical clinic.  The village has 5,000 people living in 500 homes in a 5 mile radius. None of the 5,000 people have access to health care of any kind. In one 3 hour period, the Christ for India doctors will see and treat over 300 people.  They will also then take the more serious cases back to the hospital on campus for surgeries, or more thorough testing.  What they are doing here is incredible.  I can't believe that we get to be apart of this as a church!!!

Yesterday our women hosted a Ladies Meeting for all of the women on campus and it was powerful. They spoke right to the real issues and shared testimonies of abuse and healing and did a Question and Answer time that I guess was like raw!!!  God moved big time.

Last night we went in 3 different directions. Margarite and I went with Eddie who is a Pastor from Australia in a Rickshaw (which is a glorified go-cart with a top) about 10- minutes away to a church near the beach.  Margarite shared a testimony and I spoke from Psalm 23.  It was a good time.  They had 2 little girls probably 6 and 7 who were their worship leaders.  It was just about too much!  They were so cute and yet so anointed of God.  Amazing to hear them sing in Telegu (the native language) and then "Jesus loves me" in English.  That one almost put me over the edge. I was like, "I gotta go home and see my boys, seriously!!!"  Pastor Eddie said the same thing only for him it was worse because he has 3 girls at home.

Ishana and Millie went with Johnson Titus to hear an evangelist preach.  He preached in Hindi and it was translated into Telegu.  And of course, they don't speak either of those languages.  They got to eat in the pastor's home and there was no silverware. So they were eating with their hands, just like the India people do.

Mark, Jim, Nicole, and Sally preached on the street in a village near the national highway and across from a boys school that just co-incidently lost power so all these teenage boys came across the street to see and hear what was going on because they were without power.  There were close to 300 people standing around listening Mark and our team preach the gospel. At the end, Mark said that several of those Hindu boys raised their hands to accept Christ!!!  How awesome is that!

We all got to bed late last night and are looking forward to our tour of Vizag city today and finishing up with a little shopping after that.  Tomorrow we fly back to Delhi and on Thursday will be at the Taj Mahal. I'm pumped about that.  Thanks for praying for us, I wish everyone at NLC could see and hear what we're experiencing, it's truly life changing,

See you Sunday in South Fort Myers High School, which is about 8,000 miles from where I am right now.  Unreal.

Matt and the I-Team

What a Sunday!

How do I even start to describe what we experienced in our church today?  First, we were about 45 minutes late because the “Chief Minister” which is like the Governor of the state was passing through in a motorcade which consisted of several SUV’s 2 Motor coaches and several thousand men on motorcycles.  There were police everywhere which is the first time we’ve seen police in the city this week, and to be real honest with you, it was the first time I felt unsafe.

 

The campus here is an absolute haven of God’s presence and the peace of the Lord is all over this place.  Anyway, so by the time we arrived at “the drop of f point” we (Matt, Nicole, and Ishana) jumped out of the bus and Johnson said to us, “Go with this man” and the next thing I know we are walking through like the smallest little “alleys” I have ever seen.  They were amazingly clean, at least what I can remember of them.

 

I was seriously lacking peace at the moment.  We end up in this 15’ by 30’ building where you can hear the sound of Indian Worship Music coming from within.  I had to duck to make it through the 5 foot high door and when I lifted my hands, I could basically touch the ceiling.  There were 30 adults and 20 kids in this building all sitting on the floor.  They had us sit up front in the only chairs in the place to honor us.

 

As I sat down I was overwhelmed.  The children were so amazing worshipping so intently.  It was overwhelmingly powerful.  I was about as far outside of my comfort zone as I can remember, and yet, the spirit of God was all over that place.

 

They took communion which was really cool and I completely improvised my message.  I was going to preach on David and Goliath but instead I spoke out of Psalm 4 which their pastor read in Telegu (their language) earlier in the service.  I just sensed God saying to me, “Matt, will you get over your fear, settle down and trust me?”  So I yielded to the Lord and God said, “Just preach through Psalm 4, their pastor knows best what they need to hear today.  So I did.  And it was one of the most anointed, incredible messages I’ve given in quite a while!

 

At the end, we prayed for everyone in the room which was really cool.  I prayed for the pastor’s baby that was born with Crossed Eyes and I couldn’t help but look at him and see my son Will, 8 years ago - who was also born with crossed eyes.  All I could hear in that moment was Will’s eye surgeon say to us 2 years ago, “There is no reason, in this day and age, that any child should have to live with crossed eyes.”  And yet, there I was starring at a child that, without a miracle will live with crossed eyes for the rest of his life.  It makes me want to weep just thinking about it.  I am believing for that baby’s complete healing.

 

This afternoon, I got to spend some time with 9 girls who are enrolled in the Christ For India program for girls.  It’s a 1 year program where they learn to use MS Office, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  The ramifications for these girls is that they can now get a better job and consequently move up in their caste system which will give them a better life forever!!!  What an incredible, beautiful group of girls.  I can’t wait for you to see the video of them.  They are just delightful.

 

Pastor Mark, Jim, and Millie traveled 4 hours to the church that Mark’s church in Estero, FL paid to have built last year.  They were dedicating the building!  Sally and Marguerite got to spend the morning having church with 200 children who live on campus!  They both spoke and said it was incredible!  At the end, Sally said there were several children weeping and crying and when she talked to the House Mother, she said it’s a miracle because these children have been attending the school but come from Hindu families.  So this was the day that they were converting from Hinduism to Christianity!!!  That’s truly miraculous!

 

We’re off tonight, and then we’re going to do a medical camp in the village tomorrow where we will see and treat several hundred people in a few hours time with the doctors who are on staff at the hospital here!!!

 

On Tuesday we are taking the tour of the city of Visaghapatnam  (vi-shag-a-put-num) it will be our first glimpse of the Bay of Bengal and we’ll do some shopping.  The ladies all had custom Saree’s made at a tailor shop in town and Mark and I had some custom pants and shirts done!  Nice Indian Hospitality!

 

Thanks for praying for us, hope your weekend was well.

 

I miss NLC worship too.  I listened to some of the worship songs we’re doing at church right now on my iPod this morning and actually said out loud, “I wish I could be at NLC to hear Arianne lead this song.”  What a great church we have you guys.  I really miss being at NLC today.  But I got to preach in a church smaller than my garage and it was just as incredible!  He’s truly a HUGE and AMAZING God!!!

 

I love you all,

 

Pastor Matt

India Trip Update - 9:00 am - Friday morning India time (10 1/2 hours different)

Yesterday was quite a day!!!  We were all up and around and watched the fog clear from the rooftop of our building and then had breakfast at the Titus home.  There a couple of other teams here at the same time. One from Australia and One from Wales, England.  They are great people.

We were introduced in the opening session of the Pastors Conference and then were able to spread out across the campus to see more of what's going on...

Here are some highlights:

Matt, Mark, Ishana and Nicole spent about 5 hours shooting video for our promotional videos, which I think is going to be incredible!!!

Jim K. got to ride the bus home with the school children and said that he was a "rock star."

Sally, Millie and Margarite toured the hospital and met the doctors, etc.  Their response was, "It's not the US that's for sure!"

I spoke last night in the main session of the conference with an interpreter into Telegu the local language.  The interpreter is a young pastor who is a really cool guy pastoring "The City Church" right here in Vizag.  He's a world changer.  I can't wait to tell his story...

Today is going to be a huge day in the school with the children.  Mark is speaking tonight in the conference.  And our ladies are working to organize an Ad-Hoc Woman's Conference for all the ladies on conference just to tell their stories and pray for them and encourage them which is incredible.

We've got alot of filming to do today and it's going to be crazy, but all in all the team is encouraged and still slightly overwhelmed at all that God is doing here.

We love all of you,

Pray for us,

Matt Keller and the I-Team

Wednesday 11:15 am – India Time

So we’re here, and the last 36 hours or whatever have all been a blur and overwhelming and exciting and chaotic and stressful and cool all at the same time. It’s surreal being on this campus for the first time.  The emotion I am feeling is almost overwhelming because I know the pain I feel when I think about starting a work like this from nothing but a dream.

It’s so easy to come and see how big and amazing and beautiful everything is now and forget what it once was.  Nothing.  Nothing but a dream. A dream in 1 man’s heart to leave the comfort’s of America and come to a place of 1 billion souls who are living without Christ.  I can relate to that pain because in a different way, I lived it too.

Somehow in some small way Dr. Titus’s story and my story are linked.  But that’s not the only story that exists in this place.  There are close to a thousand stories and I can’t wait to begin hearing so many of them…

Matt

Random Team Thoughts

• Mark Goodman is a Missions Trip Rock Star.  He is so stinkin’ called to missions it’s not even funny.


• Millie Martinez is like my mother-in-law on a missions trip.  I don’t think I would want to go to a foreign country without her.  (She’s also a nurse…)


• Margarite Demos has rock star qualities when it comes to oils and spices and cool stuff that is healthy.


• Jim Kittlestevd has a hard last name to spell but is kind of like a Big Brother and bodyguard all in one.


• Nicole Kittlestevd brings “cool, calm and collected” to NLC Missions.  Nothing phases that girl.


• Sally Sims is about the most even-keeled missions team member I’ve ever seen.  She is also this vast, deep well of that exudes Godly strength.


• Ishana is a great and fun asset to the I-Team.  I’m so glad she’s on this trip. (and she keeps picking up the check for our meals!  Thanks to Richard her husband… again)