My friend Greg and a group from our church are currently on a trip to tour the Holy Land. I have been helping him out with some of the pictures and I have to tell you, it has been fascinating following his travelogue. So, if you would like to experience the trip along with them, click here to catch all the details. It is a blast. I can’t wait to hear about it when they get back. Enjoy.

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As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I am working on making some changes to the site and as I had experimented with in the past, it moves this blog to another location. If for some reason you get here and this blog has gone away, you can find it at http://matt.mybiblejournal.com. This probably won’t happen for a few days at the earliest, but I just wanted to give you the heads up. Thanks again for checking in.

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Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over and we begin looking to the new year, it is time for me to reflect and nothing struck me more in my reading recently than this verse:

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad – for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NLT)

I put emphasis on “strange”, because there have been a number for instances this year that were totally weird and timed out with some signifigant spiritual events. Before I share I must disclaim that: 1) I am blessed to have my health and that of the family. We are great. 2) I am not complaining and am joyful in these experiences. 3) We are blessed to have problems like this, but you still need to break out the Maylox bottle anyhow. 4) If this is “sharing in Christ’s suffering”, I am totally getting off easy. Nothing compares to that!

A number of things happened to me over the last year that have been crazy. They include:

• We had a blow out on the freeway coming home from California. Happens all the time, right? We were racing home to serve at church at the time! Funny how that happens! Evil has its ways. The girls still made in time to serve. YAY GOD!
• The day before I was to leave to go to High School Church camp our air conditioning went out. Oh yeah, it was 105 degrees outside. Thank you God for such wonderful parents who could come help out financially and emotionally. They are a true blessing to our family.
• I got laid off from a job that I loved. A blessing in disguise, but still a hard pill to swallow at the time.
• My laptop fried recently. Just as I am getting ready to take this website to a God-sized vision. Again, it’s mysterious timing to me.

I have to reiterate, I am not trying to whine and complain about these things, which is why it took me so long to actually write about them. That is the last thing that I want to do. I just found it interesting how this came about when I am getting ready to read through the entire Bible, from start to finish, for the first time and I am more connected to the Church body than ever before. It has been so exciting to connect with the Living Word online and off and this verse from 1 Peter really kind of summed it up. Like it says, strange…

So there you have it, major spiritual growth. I know there is more on the way and I can’t wait. Thanks for taking the journey with me.

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A blog post, perhaps? I know it has been a while since I got on here. And there is good reason. God has been working on me hardcore and the blog has not been part of His plan. But, now it is. BIG TIME! There are going to be some HUGE changes to this site that are God-sized and I am so excited to get them online. It will come very shortly and I can’t wait to share.

As a very small clue, I share something from my reading today:

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 1 Peter 3:8 (NLT)

I know that is not saying much and I am very sorry for the tease, but I can tell you that more news will come very shortly. Thanks for being there for me.

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Not High School Musical or Camp Rock! Seriously, there has been way too much Disney Channel in this home. But, my chance to escape was with High School students enjoying the wonder of God’s Creation in the Durango, Colorado area and learning in His Word. It was awesome and I have yet to fully recover. In fact, I debated posting because I am still wiped out. It was full of activity at 12,000 feet up and I have been reflecting on how He worked on me with those students, so I have not gotten the rest that I need. And although I was able to help Greg with his posting (you can read the play by play at his blog), I didn’t have the opportunity to blog while I was there. But here is some stuff that I took away from camp:

• My friend Fred and I were in charge of team building activities. We made a good team taking a couple of each to make our own and it was so cool. I really enjoyed Fred’s Blind Faith Obstacle Course and Self Control Gum activities. It was fun to work on those with him.
• Speaking of which, Fred is a total Levite. Dude is strong! He could put the giant grill together in about 5 minutes and I marveled at his abilities. It was such an honor to serve along with him.
• It was awesome to serve along with my daughter who was babysitting Greg’s daughter. I was so proud of her.
• The students were stellar. They were digging all the messages that they were taught and got along so well. God was pouring into them and they were loving it.
• I love my guys from Two Days Til Tomorrow. One of the highlights for me was when they got together in front of the condos and just started playing worship songs with a bunch of the students singing along. It was an incredible site that was made even better when a woman who was also staying there walked by and asked me, “Are you a part of this?” When I told her that I was she said, “That is so wonderful, good for you guys.” Man, was my heart filled with joy.

Finally, I got to get up in front of the group and present a couple of our team building activities and it was awesome! I hate to overuse that word “awesome”, but there is really no other word to describe it. On the day of our hike, I reminded the students how it represented our walk with Christ and how we should support each other the entire way. I dug into the book of Romans for this:

We who are strong must be consderate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. Romans 15:1-2 (NLT)

Being in the advertising business, my favorite activitiy that I got to lead was the “Commercial for God”. We gave the students up to 2 minutes to do a commercial that would sell God to somebody who had never heard about His glory and the students nailed it. They had a blast, but more importantly, they brainstormed ideas that would help them in conversations with their friends that don’t yet know Christ. Again, awesome.

And although we had a blast with the activites at the ski resort, hiking in the mountains and white river rafting, it was very spiritual and reminded me of the believers in the book of Acts:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. Acts 2:42 (NLT)

God is working in me BIG TIME and I just have to thank all the students, pastors and adults that were there. I think everybody had pretty much the same take away and I makes me even more anxious for each Sunday and next summer. What a way to start the new school year. Big things are coming. I will keep you posted.

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What a vacation! It was such a joy to spend such quality time with my family. Which is why you take vacations, right? We had a blast! We even got to have Zoe the dog with us which made it even better. But, you know what happens after vacation. Work. You have to go back and no matter how much you love your job, which I do, it is an adjustment. I got back and it was a good week, which made it easier, but it was still getting back to work.

With that being said, I have been thinking about my career recently. God has put me in a great place where I am at, but I look for signs. I have been volunteering in ministry and it has been awesome. But is that where he really wants me? I see where I am at and I truly believe He wants me in the secular business place to show my love of Christ. I just keep getting that feeling from Him. It is frustrating though. It has been a while since I have not been in management or running my own business, so I know that I am capable of so much more. It is times like this that something jumps out at you in Scripture. The last couple of days have led me to 1 Chronicles and this about David:

In the past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who really led the forces of Israel. And the Lord your God told you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be the leader of my people Israel.’” 1 Chronicles 11:2 (NLT)

David was doing all this work and the people were taking notice. Even though Saul was the king, the people were led to David. So when I read this it just jumped out. Just because I am not in management right now, I might be making a difference with the people I am around and God is working where I can’t immediately see to pave the way so that I can shine an even greater light on His Glory.

We see it so much in the Bible where God tests our patience. Can you imagine being Moses and waiting 40 years? Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of whale praying that he wouldn’t be digested! Waiting a few months for things to change at work really shouldn’t be that difficult. But it is. Thankfully I have these examples and many others to look to. That is how I can really shine the light on His Glory. Who said this isn’t practical?

Read on…

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I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post it, but in the end, I thought that some of my family from out of town might want to see it. Now understand, I have a little pipsqueek video camera that was at the back of this room and I don’t think it was made for this type of thing. Perhaps if I had zoomed in more, you might be able to see my facial features, but I doubt it. So here you have it, my first lesson:

So there you have it. If you made it through at least one minute of it, I congratulate you. It is pretty hard to watch because of the quality, but I appreciate the effort. It has peaked my interest in video though. We need to get a better camera! Thanks for everybody’s support!

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Growing up in the Prielipp household, there are a couple of things that stand out. Working hard is first and foremost, but I also grew up watching NBC News. Whether it was local or national, we usually had it on Channel 4, which grew my other fascination to find a career in media, the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, because the TV stayed on that channel. There were no remote controls! The last time I put anything on the Internet about a media personality was at Johnny’s death, but today I am posting about any even bigger influence on my adult life, Tim Russert. Today, God took him home at age 58 and I realized the impact that he has had on my life, but not just because he was on television.

This past weekend, I had the privledge of teaching the students at Palm Valley Church about the gifts that God gives us and how we can use and share them with others. Sometimes when we are growing up, our gifts are not the same as our family’s and that can be challenging, yet rewarding. The calling to go into media is one of those. In the tributes that I have seen, Tim Russert seems to have followed this path. He got a law degree and he then went into media! What was he thinking! Yet, he became a person who worked really hard that we could trust and learn from on TV. It is rare and he will be missed.

But what I have gotten out of today’s tributes the most was his faith. Everybody that has been interviewed has mentioned his faith and love for his family. In fact, they have probably mentioned that more than anything. How great is that, that NEWS PEOPLE have been praising his faith! Let me tell you, this is a big step for people who for the most part need to see to believe. But he lived it and everybody saw it. In fact, I heard on FOX News that he had just gotten off a flight from Rome and the Vatican before he passed. He had been following his faith right before his was taken Home.

It’s God’s plan, not ours and we need to live it everyday, even if you are in the media! It is all about living the faith while we are here because we never know when we won’t have the chance to show it any more. Thank you Tim Russert for reminding me that I can live my faith and pass it on to others, even in the media. Rest in Peace my friend and thanks for teaching me a lot about this great place that we live in.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephisians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

Thanks again for the reminder Tim.

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Recently, after 13 years of the same television, we were able to upgrade to a HDTV.  Being that we are home bodies, this is pretty much our entertainment budget. And with our cable service, just about every other HD channel belongs to the Discovery Network and our entire family have become HUGE fans of the Discovery Channel. Over the weekend, I watched this promo and it moves me. Watch:

First, that is how I would feel if I were able to look down on the earth like astronauts. The world is awesome and God made it all in one breath. That is even more awesome. But what I love about this is the human spirit and passion that it shows in interacting with His creation. They captured it perfectly. The world is awesome because He made it and we get to enjoy it while we are here. Not just the big things, but the little things. Even the Dirty Jobs! Thanks God.

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Wow, the calendar in the right hand column sure looks lonely. Almost a month and a half of no blogging and it is about time I got back to it. A bit of history about this:

As I mentioned in the last post, Palm Valley Church began the Route 66 series with the church body reading the One Year Bible. I have joined in and been lost in the Word through the first month and a half of the year. Along with that, I have been working on the devotionals that have come along with it (more on SOAP later) and my written journal is filling up. So it is time for me to start sharing once again online all those thoughts.

This really came back to me when I read the story of Bezalel, the craftsman who went to work on the Tabernacle from the visions that God had given Moses. God empowered Bezalel with the knowledge and skills to get it done to His specifications. This spoke to me because, like Bezalel, I believe that God has given these same gifts to me with this blog. But unlike Bezalel, instead of using acacia wood and fine linens, I use a keyboard and a bunch of code to share the Good News!

So I am back at it and they will be coming fast and furious. I could share the amount of events, church service, soccer volunteering and work that I have had in the last month, but I am just going to concentrate on getting back at it. If you have been checking back, thank you for sticking around. There is more on the way and I can’t wait. Read on…

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