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It’s been a little while since I’ve been able to write you an extensive update. SO, here’s a quick fly-by of what’s going on and what’s being planned. Through it all, please pray with us that the Lord will have HIS way, and that HE would get lots of glory.
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NEW ALBUM:
Pregnant. That’s how I’ve been feeling. I am READY to get into that studio and see these new songs come to life! So….God willing, we’ll be recording during the month of April, and looking towards a JULY or AUGUST OFFICIAL RELEASE (Official Date TBA). So keep your eyes peeled, and pray with us for Spirit-Empowered, Scripture-Saturated songs that magnify Jesus.
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1ST SINGLE:
Many of you have been asking about a song we have been doing lately called “It Is Finished”. Many of you are also quite angry that you are unable to get this song. Well, some good news for you….”It Is Finished” will be our first “single”, which means you will be able to get it BEFORE the actual ALBUM releases. It’s a great song for Easter, so we are hoping to be able to release it around APRIL 1, in time for you guys to get it to the Church. It will be available exclusively at mattpapa.com.
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CD RELEASE TOUR:
This FALL we are planning to do some CD release concerts for the new album. If you are a leader, pastor, youth pastor, or event coordinator, and you are interested in one of these concerts possibly coming to your church or city, please go here and fill out this form:
We hope to get to see you and worship with you!
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CURRENT:
The spring is always a busy season for us, but God is always so faithful to give us strength and zeal for the gospel, when we are weak & dependent on Him. Since January, we have been privileged to be able to minister somewhere each weekend, and we have seen SO MANY students get LIT UP for Jesus! It honestly never gets old. When a group really hears the gospel, and they GET it, they WILL change this world! It’s a beautiful thing and it’s a FACT. Please pray for this summer of ministry that we have ahead of us! WE DON’T WANT TO JUST TRAVEL AROUND AND PLAY SONGS AND SELL CD’S!! I WOULD RATHER QUIT OR DIE BEFORE I DO THAT. I want to see an AWAKENING in this generation, which is IMPOSSIBLE without the Holy Spirit. I don’t want us just to go. I want us to be SENT.
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ORPHANAGE:
Many of you have also asked about our orphanage in India, which is still in the process of being built. I am so thankful for your prayers for this. It is a bit more expensive than we anticipated, so it is taking a bit longer than we anticipated. If you feel led to learn more about this ministry, or possibly to give, please visit this site. Thank you!
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CHURCH:
Time fails for me to tell you what AN AWESOME CHURCH we are now a part of. We love The Summit Church dearly, and are so thankful to be there. I have the honor of serving there when I am not serving on the road. You can learn more about the church at www.summitRDU.com.
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FAMILY:
Lastly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, and many of you already may know, there is a NEW PAPA! Her name is Stella, and she arrived about 5 weeks ago. She is a precious, eating, sleeping, & pooping little blessing. God is SO GOOD! (And we are so tired) My wife is such an amazing woman and I am so proud of her and HONORED to be her husband.
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FINALLY:
To the faithful and few who made it this far in this update – Please know that I am SO THANKFUL for YOU! I am so blessed by your encouragement and prayers over the years. We need it! Please let us know if there is any way we can pray for you.
For the Church, For the Gospel, For the Glory of God-
Matt Papa
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Spring 2011 UPDATE!
25 Feb
Martyr Monday: PRAY for Said Musa
21 Feb| America Quiet on the Execution of Afghan Christian Said Musa
A terrible drama is unfolding in Afghanistan: There are reports that Said Musa, whose situation I described at Christmas, will soon be executed for the ‘crime’ of choosing to become a Christian. (For background, see here.) Musa was one of about 25 Christians arrested on May 31, 2010, after a May 27 Noorin TV program showed video of a worship service held by indigenous Afghan Christians; he was arrested as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy. He converted to Christianity eight years ago, is the father of six young children, had a leg amputated after he stepped on a landmine while serving in the Afghan Army, and now has a prosthetic leg. His oldest child is eight and one is disabled (she cannot speak). He worked for the Red Cross/Red Crescent as an adviser to other amputees. He was forced to appear before a judge without any legal counsel and without knowledge of the charges against him. “Nobody [wanted to be my] defender before the court. When I said ‘I am a Christian man,’ he [a potential lawyer] immediately spat on me and abused me and mocked me. . . . I am alone between 400 [people with] terrible values in the jail, like a sheep.” He has been beaten, mocked, and subjected to sleep deprivation and sexual abuse while in prison. No Afghan lawyer will defend him and authorities denied him access to a foreign lawyer. Any and every human being who is imprisoned, abused, or tortured for the free and peaceful expression of their faith deserves our support, but Musa is also a remarkable person and Christian. In a letter smuggled to the West, he says, “The authority and prisoners in jail did many bad behaviour with me about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, they did sexual things with me, beat me by wood, by hands, by legs, put some things on my head.” He added a thing much more important to him, that they “mocked me ‘he’s Jesus Christ,’ spat on me, nobody let me for sleep night and day. . . . Please, please, for the sake of Lord Jesus Christ help me.” (View the full letter here) He has not, in fact, even appealed to be released, only to be transferred to another prison. He has also stated that he is willing to give his life for his faith. “Please, please you should transfer me from this jail to a jail that supervises the believers. . . . I also agree . . . to sacrifice my life in public [where] I will tell [about my] faith in Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, [so] other believers will take courage and be strong in their faith.” Newspapers in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe have reported the story, but with, the exception of the Wall Street Journal and, of course, NRO, American outlets have not found it worthy of attention. The Journal reports that “Afghan officials have been unapologetic: ‘The sentence for a convert is death and there is no exception,’ said Jamal Khan, chief of staff at the Ministry of Justice. ‘They must be sentenced to death to serve as a lesson for others.’” The U.S. government — reportedly including Secretary of State Clinton — and other governments have pushed for his release, but to no avail. But the president has been silent, even as we fight a war that has among its goals the creation of a government that conforms to international human-rights standards. An American president certainly needs to guard and shepherd his political capital, and should not speak out about every prisoner. But Musa himself has appealed to “President Brother Obama” to rescue him from his current jail. And when an obscure and aberrant Florida pastor, Terry Jones, threatened to burn a Koran, not only President Obama but much of his cabinet, as well as General Petraeus, weighed in on the matter. If the actions of a Florida pastor who threatened to destroy a book holy to Muslims deserved public and presidential attention, then the actions of the Afghan government, ostensibly a ‘democratic’ ally, to destroy something holy to Christians, a human being made in the image of God, also deserve public and presidential attention. — Paul Marshall is the co-author, with Nina Shea, of Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide, forthcoming from Oxford University Press in October 2011. |
What Jesus has been teaching me lately….
15 Feb“If you engage with the Holy Spirit because you want to merely be effective in ministry, then you are developing professional intimacy…And what so we call people who are intimate as a profession?”
Bill Johnson
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I have always wanted God to use me. I mean, since I was 14 years old and started leading worship, I have DEEPLY wanted Him to use me. DEEPLY. I would fast and pray, read my Bible for hours, try really hard not to lust or be angry……all so that I could be “A Man God Uses”. And you know what, God has used me, and I am SO thankful for that. But what I am discovering is that people (like me) who are obsessive about God using them are probably using God. Let me explain.
You see in my quest to be used by God, I made God a means to an end. I wanted significance. I wanted praise. I wanted validation. And if being more “holy” or “godly” would gain me a ministry that people respected and God used, then I would do whatever it took. If the cost of bearing fruit was abiding in Christ, then sure, I’ll “abide”. BUT ABIDING IN CHRIST FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEARING FRUIT IS NOT ABIDING IN CHRIST. ABIDING IN CHRIST FOR THE PURPOSE OF ABIDING IN CHRIST IS ABIDING IN CHRIST.
In Acts chapter 8, a man named Simon the Sorcerer sees what the apostles are able to do through the power of the Holy Spirit and says, “Give me also this ability…”. Or in other words, “I want some fruit”. This didn’t make Peter too happy. Peter basically tells the dude he hopes that he dies, and that his heart is not right with God. Ouch.
But this is the very place my heart was (and is at times). I want the power of God more than God Himself. I need more than God. I need God + a fruitful ministry. I need God AND I need to be remembered. Honestly, it’s just like the prosperity gospel, that I so often scorn. ”Give your life to God so you can do more, be happier, more prosperous, etc.” But our God will NOT be a means to an end. He will be THE END, or nothing at all.
Christian / Minister – Where are you finding passion / purpose / significance today? Is it in your job/ministry? Then I pray it be taken away……let everything be taken away….until we can say with the Psalmist “ONE THING I ask of the LORD, THIS is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”
Ask yourself this question: WHY do I need God? Do you need Him to help you run your business? To get good grades? To have a bigger ministry? All such seeking God is prostitution. And you will stay BUSY, until your one ambition, your end, becomes KNOWING GOD.
Writing that you may know, love, and glorify God, not use Him-
Matt
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P.S. I’d love to hear about your own experiences in this area, that I might grow in Christ.
Martyr Monday – Saleema
7 FebShe grew up in a Christian family in Pakistan. For her, faith in Jesus Christ was a part of everyday life and often came with great costs. At age 17, Saleema knew the dangers of sharing her faith in the Muslim stronghold of Pakistan, but that did not prevent her from being a living witness of her Lord Jesus. In early 1997, Saleema gave a Bible to a Muslim friend of hers named Raheela. Raheela, 18, was so convinced by what she read that she immediately fell in love with Christ. She longed to know more about Jesus, and on Good Friday, she found the courage to attend a Christian church. It was on this day that Rabeela heard, for the first time, of the crucifixion, the atonement, and the resurrection of Jesus. She had read about Jesus in the Koran, but the Islamic Holy Book failed to mention his crucifixion and atonement for sin. That morning before returning home she gave her life to Jesus Christ.
Rabeela’s parents were very disturbed by the news. According to Islamic law, their daughter was guilty of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed. She was beaten, kicked and tortured by her parents. However, she would not deny Christ. Her parents continued the persecution and decided it would be best to give their daughter in marriage to a Muslim man. She refused, and her parents became FURIOUS. So she ran away to Saleema and her pastor for counsel. On June 9th, 1997, her parents, thinking Saleema had kidnapped her, had Saleema and her family arrested where she was starved, beaten, slapped and tortured for 9 hours with her parents. The next day the pastor and his family were arrested and imprisoned. Saleema and the pastor were taken to a torture cell where they were tortured indescribably. Saleema was whipped 16 times (5 times would make a normal man pass out) and repeatedly raped. She couldn’t sit for 2 weeks, and the pastor could barely walk due to the bruises on his hips and thighs. As part of the torture, Saleema was forced to stand on the tips of her toes for over twelve hours. Each time she came down from this excruciating position, a stick came across her back. The guards would remove the prisoner’s clothing and attempted to force Saleema and her pastor to commit adultery. When they refused, they were again beaten. The pastor’s son was also arrested, hung upside down in a tree, and nearly beaten to death. Every day and every night Saleema was tortured. Her tormentors inflicted unspeakable wounds both physically and emotionally.
Three weeks after Saleema was handed over to the police, the young Muslim girl who had turned her life over to Jesus, Rabeela, was discovered hiding in a woman’s shelter. Her Muslim parents brought her back to her village where she was publicly executed. She was only a Christian for a few months but knew well the meaning of being “faithful unto death.” Saleema was charged with the girl’s death. The judge found her guilty on two counts, 1> for proselytizing a Muslim girl, and 2> causing the events leading up to the girl’s execution.
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“The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men (and women) lay hold of it.” – Matthew 11:12
Writing that you may, against all odds, lay hold of TRUE life-
Matt
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story by Tom White VOM, edited/arranged by Matt Papa
A New Year’s Prayer…
5 Jan2011 (Do What You Must)
Do what you must almighty God
To make me more like your Son
Empty me of all envy and pride
And fill me again with love
Whatever it takes I earnestly pray
To make me a man of Your Word
Take me to the depths of sufferings deep
Lead me down the Calvary road
I’ll take up my cross whatever the cost
If you grant the strength and the grace
I’ll follow you Lord, my Savior, my God
To highest of heights or grave
My dreams and my plans I place on your altar
And to them I raise my knife
You give and you take, my gracious provider
You kill and you bring to life
I ask not for health or prospering wealth
But one thing I need and trust
That I might become a man like Your Son
To this end, Lord do what you must
Tags: Poetry
Martyr Monday – Agatha
13 DecToday’s excerpt is from the Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (fight through the old english….it’s worth it!)
Agatha, a Sicilian lady, was not more remarkable for her personal and acquired endowments, than her piety; her beauty was such, that Quintian, governor of Sicily, became enamored of her, and made many attempts upon her chastity without success. In order to gratify his passions with greater conveniency, he put the virtuous lady into the hands of Aphrodica, a very infamous and licentious woman. This wretch tried every artifice to win her to the desired prostitution; but found all her efforts were vain; for her chastity was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could procure true happiness. Aphrodica acquainted Quintian with the inefficacy of her endeavors, who, enaged to be foiled in his designs, changed his lust into resentment. On her confessing that she was a Christian, he determined to gratify his revenge, as he could not his passion. Pursuant to his orders, she was scourged, burnt with red-hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired on February 5, 251.
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The call to “Be Holy” will cost us something. Maybe for you it will mean having a difficult conversation. Maybe it will mean a group of friends will make fun of you in public. Maybe it will mean you finally selling that stuff that you don’t really need and giving to the poor. For Agatha…..it meant getting seared with red-hot irons, torn with sharp hooks, and burnt naked on flaming coals.
Following Jesus in our 21st Century America is easy….and yet, that is precisely why it is so hard.
Writing that you might Be Holy, no matter what the cost-
Matt
A CRITICAL reminder to ministers and fishermen
8 DecPlease take 12 seconds and read these 3 verses……
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John 21:4-6
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
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My pastor J.D. Greear reminded me of this truth last night during our prayer service:
We can’t do ANYTHING as ministers or ministries until we hear the voice of the Master. NOTHING (John 15:5). PERIOD. These men knew what they were doing. They were professional fishermen! And yet, NOTHING.
I think the tragedy today is that there are so many professional ministers (if such a thing exists), and so few child-like servants. (I am guilty of this so often, God help me.) We are a BUSY people, not a LISTENING people. We have much activity, but little (real) productivity. We are fishing, but not catching. Honestly, even as I write this, I cringe at the thought that my current “fishing” MIGHT be just business….that “my” ministry MIGHT become my ministry. Oh Lord save us from this and let us hear Your voice and OBEY!!!
These men didn’t need a seminar, a consultation, a more organized schedule, better lures, better strategies, more money, etc, etc, etc. These men needed a Voice. They needed Divine Instruction. And that’s all you need. That’s all I need.
Jesus – I don’t want to waste ANY time fishing on the wrong side of the boat of life. I pray that even this tiny little blog post can be a net of sorts….a net that brings MANY fish into the comfort and direction of Your voice again.
Writing that you might wait for His Voice, and that your ministries might be too fruitful for you to handle-
Matt
