Poets, Prophets and Preachers

This week I had the sincere pleasure of listening to three of the freshest and authentic voices on the art of preaching. The conference lasted only 2 1/2 days but it felt like just moments because of how brilliant it was. I learned so many theological and conceptual ideas about what makes a great sermon and also many practical tips and tools to shape the messages and talks I give on a regular basis. Like an artist shapes and creates a painting or a dance, preaching is an art form.

Zach Lind, the drummer from Jimmy Eat World was there as well. He was there for the entire conference just listening. He is a friend of Rob and Shane and shared some insights with us on working with a song the way that we work with messages and sermons. I am a HUGE Jimmy Eat World fan so I was in heaven listening to their song, Dizzy, and the two versions they worked with before they got the song where they wanted to for the album.

Great sermons need time to sit on the shelf and marinade before they can be shared, just like songs from a band or art in a museum.
My friend Wally got up on stage to participate in some improv comedy on Monday night with a friend of Rob's. He had to confess to "Father Tim" and it was hilarious.

Great worship by the music team @ Mars Hill and even better quote from German theologian, Meister Eckhart.

"Whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, secretly all nature seeks God and works towards him...Covertly, nature seeks, hunts, tries to ferret out the track on which God may be found."

Rob and Shane Hipps. Shane is a pastor from AZ and a brilliant communicator and expert on how technology shapes our faith. You must read his work on this, it is called Flickering Pixels and is available everywhere.

Peter Rollins is another guy who was there and blew my mind!!!

He is a pastor, a prophet and a poet all wrapped up in one Irish package. He is from Belfast in Northern Ireland and his talks on sermons, transformance art (this deserves a whole blog post on its own I will do sometime) and the fact that God is knowable yet unknowable was awesome.

I am going to list the resources you should get after reading this and if you are giving messages, talks, sermons or are a writer at all - you must get this conference when it comes out on DVD in a few months. Check the site, www.robbell.com for a release date.

We finished the conference with a time of reflection and communion and I got a chance to talk with Rob afterwards and give him a hug and pray for him. We talked about our new additions to our families - us with Emma and he and Kristen's new baby girl, Violet.

I am so blessed to be able to do the job that I do and attend conferences like this that really make me thankful to my God and my family.

Grace and Peace to you!

Matt

-------------------------

Drops Like Stars - Rob Bell (comes out August 1, but we got advanced copies)

How Not to Speak of God - Peter Rollins

The Orthodox Heretic - Peter Rollins

Flickering Pixels - Shane Hipps

Art and Fear - Bayles and Orland

The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

All six of these titles are a must for your library!

Graduation!

Dr. Daryl Eldridge, President of Rockbridge Seminary and me with my MDiv.

Dr. Sam Simmons, Vice President of Rockbridge Seminary and me

My beautiful wife, Jeana, and daughter, Emma and I at graduation

Last Friday I walked across the stage and received my Masters of Divinity from Rockbridge Seminary. In September of 2005 I began my journey as a seminary student and finished in April of 2009. I cannot really express the growth that I have experienced in my life as a man and a follower of Jesus over the last four years.

Nothing great ever happens alone and the same is true for my time in Seminary. My greatest supporter and friend through all of this has been my amazing wife Jeana. When I told her that I wanted to get my Masters degree she was 110% supportive and she has made many sacrifices over the last 4 years in order for me to go to school while working. She has put me through school in so many ways and she deserves much praise and thanks from me most of all.

I talk to so many people that went to seminary and

they tell me that it did not prepare them for real ministry and my

experience at Rockbridge was the complete opposite. Rockbridge Seminary has

such great programs for people that are currently in ministry, paid or unpaid,

that want to get more training and theological education.

If you are interested, please check out their site.

This is not the end of my learning though. We are all called to continue to grow and push ourselves further up and further in, as C.S. Lewis would say. Someday I will pursue a Doctorate but for now I am content to just enjoy each day that God givs me and be a husband for Jeana and a great dad for my princess Emma.

Matt Nash, M. Div

Rockbridge Seminary

Class of 2009

Adoption Day!!!

Yesterday exactly one year ago was our Adoption Day with Emma. We were united with her on the 25th but it was official on May 26th, 2008. It is hard to believe that it has been a year already because if you would have been with us last May in China, you would be blown away with how far she has come in every possible way now. Sometimes I think that my heart is so full of love for her that it is going to explode but then she does something new and my heart grows even bigger and I am so full of joy to see the world through her eyes.

We had a party last night and our great friends Tim and Annie joined us. Their son Noah is 3 and he and Emma have so much time dancing and playing together that I had to include a picture of their version of the celebration.

When I look back on this moment years from now I hope that I have the perspective that these are really sacred moments of life!

What are the sacred moments of your life? Do you celebrate them?

Take time today and find the divine in the daily and you will see that what John Piper says about life is so true, that God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.

Peace to you

Matt

The Bono Factor

“…I have two instincts. I want to have fun, and I want to change the world.”

Bono

Today I spent the day picturing myself in sunny Orlando, Florida with my friends Wally and Rob at the Exponential Conference but thanks to the power of the world wide web I was able to be there. I got to hear Erwin McManus speak about The Art of Movement and he said that so often our churches are void of art and movement and often we are so focused on small tactical changes instead of the larger strategic mission of the church.

After lunch it was Larry Osborne from North Coast in Vista, CA. He just wrote a book called "10 stupid things Christian's Believe" and 6 months ago a book called "Sticky Church." I will blog another time about his new book but the one thing he said today that really stood out to me was this.

"Years ago, excellence was the key to building a strong culture of growth in churches and today it is different. Today it is two things, authenticity and what I call the Bono factor. People want to know if you are real and they want to get involved with something bigger than themselves. This is what our ministries must be about."

Today was so great and tomorrow it gets even better. Craig Groeschel (LifeChurch TV) and Matt Chandler (The Village) are speaking tomorrow and then Thursday morning is Francis Chan.

I am so thankful to God for allowing me to do what I do and learn from others and inspire others to not only have fun, but also to change the world.

Matt

Thank You

Thank You God for the love of my life, Jeana

Thank you God, for my princess Emma!

Phone Call Heaven

This post was supposed to be up on Friday, March 13th so just imagine it is that day as you read...

When I was a little kid, I wanted God to call me on the phone from heaven. It never happened.

It was exactly a year ago today that we received the phone call letting us know that Holt had selected a child from China for us. We were told that she was 13 months old and her name was Yu CaiJuan. She was from Xinyu in the province of Jiangxi.

We got off the phone and instantly began jumping up and down and I was screaming and then crying and jeana was crying and then screaming. Needless to say that it was years and years of pent up emotions and feelings that we had become parents and were just waiting to go get our little girl. We named her Emma Rain Nash. Her middle name, Rain, comes from her Chinese name and that is very important to us to keep her heritage because we are very proud that she is Chinese and we want her to be very proud of being Chinese.

We have been home with her for a little over 10 months now and she is a completely different girl. They told us before we got her that she was quiet and shy. I do not know what girl they were talking about but it wasn't our Emma. She loves animals and being outside. She loves reading books and traveling. She has a little bit of her daddy's ADD and she has her mommy's attention to detail.

I cannot imagine life without her and somedays it feels like she has always been with us.

This past year I have learned so much about the goodness of God and the importance of patience and waiting on Jesus for everything. I hope that I do not quickly forget the lessons from this last year and the daily ones that God teaches me and the lessons that Jeana and Emma remind me off as well. Life is a gift and we are here to show people the love of Jesus and to love unconditionally.

I finally got my phone call from heaven.

Matt

All of Me

Here is the truth...

God wants all of me, more than I am willing to give him. 

I have been wrestling with this thought and did not know how to put it into words until now. The small group of high school guys that I lead is going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. 

This book and my reading through the Scriptures lately is really wrecking me over and it is a very good thing.  I have known for most of my life that God loves me and when I was 16 I decided that I wanted to surrender my heart and life to this God who made me and died for me. I just think that for most of my adult life I have spent so much time trying to get more of God rather than giving God all of me. 

Maybe this makes sense to you deep in your core, or maybe it doesn't.

 All I know is that I need to get away for a day or a couple days and start giving all of myself to God. Often times hearing the truth hurts and that is a good thing. We as a society try to avoid pain, or medicate pain, or escape pain rather than embracing the painful moments so we can grow. 

Are you giving God all of you? 

Matt