Category: Faith

Faith

Play Your Best for Him

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

The Christmas song that’s most likely to make me cry isn’t actually based on the Bible.

Everyone knows this song, and it’s often mocked as being overly sentimental or annoying. There was even a challenge going around a few years ago: who could go the longest without hearing it during the month of December?

There are jokes about this song, such as the one about what a sleeping newborn really needs … is a drum solo.

Still, I love “The Little Drummer Boy.” And one line in particular makes me tear up every time.

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Faith · Reading

Favorite Books (and More!) for Advent

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

One of the most exciting and comforting aspects of the end of the calendar year is surely the celebration of Advent, when Christians remember the first coming of Christ and anticipate the second. This season awakens a childlike and reverent wonder that’s a welcome respite from the commercialization that surrounds us during November and December.

I’ve enjoyed Advent both with my family (husband and four children) and also in a more solitary way, with my own daily Advent devotions. I’ll share both kinds of books here. I also became a Christian at age 30, and had absolutely zero previous knowledge of what Advent was or why we ought to celebrate it—so I also want to provide a few details to help those who are fairly new to the concept of the Advent season.

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Faith

What Men Have to Say About Scripture Writing

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

Over the years that I’ve been posting and teaching about Scripture writing, many of the same questions keep popping up. One of the most common questions is this: Do men do Scripture writing, too?

The answer is yes, they absolutely do! In fact, one of the biggest misconceptions about Scripture writing is that it’s something that only women do.

I’ve often wondered … why might people assume that Scripture writing is inherently a feminine thing to do? Especially since the scribes of centuries past were virtually all male, and it was a respected position in a temple or monastery (not to mention in the military, or in the court of a nobleman or king).

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Faith

What’s So Intimidating About the Bible?

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

When I was in college, I worked in a mall bookstore—to this day, one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. As the assistant manager, I’d often arrive early to get some paperwork done before other employees arrived.

If you’ve ever wondered whether bookstore or library employees can read on the job, the 1980s answer is yes, to a certain extent. I often took advantage of this perk, and when I was in the store by myself, I could gravitate toward those books that I might not want others to see me reading. Alone in the store, with 15 minutes to do with as I pleased, I often headed for the Religion and Bibles section.

I wasn’t a Christian at the time, or even especially spiritual. As a young child, I’d read a 10-volume children’s Bible that had caused me to declare Jesus as my savior, but that commitment only lasted a few years. By the time I worked in the bookstore, God was a distant memory and Jesus was far from my mind and my life … or so it seemed.

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Faith

Dear Friend, You’re Already Found

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

“What is it that keeps you from looking for God?”

When I heard this question in a sermon last week, I had just seen an excellent live performance of Dear Evan Hansen a mere 12 hours before. If you’re one of the many who have seen this show, you know the song that’ll be in your head for days: “You Will Be Found” (lyric video here).

The main character in this musical, Evan Hansen, is a high school student who has social anxiety and great difficulty fitting in. He feels awkward and out of place most of the time. During the course of the show, he struggles greatly with the idea of being found—not necessarily because he feels lost, but because he feels invisible. So I suppose that the theme is not just about being found, but being seen. And really, aren’t they just two sides of the same coin?

Evan has no true friends, so when he sings these lyrics, they’re especially poignant:

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Faith

Scripture Writing in Philippians—Join Me at Bible Copy Club

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

I’ve been invited to be a guest writer at Bible Copy Club for a four-week series on Philippians! Join me there and let’s copy out this book together.

If you’ve been thinking about trying Scripture writing (copying out the Bible by hand), or if you’re just feeling the need to do something different in your daily Bible time, I have some good news!

Beginning next week and continuing through July, I’ll be collaborating with Andy at Bible Copy Club to walk you through copying the entire book of Philippians, a few verses at a time (use this link to receive this series). We start on Monday, July 7, and by August 1, you’ll have written out the entire book. And because you’ve taken it slowly and had time to think about what you’re writing, you’ll have more of it stored away in your heart than you might have by just reading alone.

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Faith

Why and How to Begin Scripture Writing

Rebekah Matt11 Comments

“Be sure to spend time in the Bible every day.” Every Christian hears this often. We know that it’s important. But we also know that it’s easier in some seasons of life than in others.

Almost seven years ago, I began a new way of spending daily time in the Word: I started copying Scripture (verse by verse or book by book) by hand. Over the years, I’ve done this both instead of and in addition to a Bible reading plan. With very few exceptions, I’ve been writing out Scripture for about 2,500 consecutive days, and I can honestly say that Scripture writing has completely transformed the way I approach the Bible and how I interact with God’s Word.

And it’s not just me. I can tell by the popularity of the Scripture writing posts on my blog that many Christians—both male and female, and of all ages—are eager to try something that will refresh and reinvigorate their daily time with the Bible. And for some, Scripture writing is just the thing.

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Faith

Hello, Sixty

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

“I’ll be sixty in a couple of months.”

At the present time, I can say this casually and effortlessly, without cringing, whispering, or grimacing. It was not always this way.

Last year, I could hardly say the number aloud, so I’ve actually come a long way from my state of utter denial. I’m not sure why it’s been so hard for me to accept this number, sixty. I’ve heard that “sixty is the new forty,” but honestly, sixty is the age where you can no longer even remotely pretend that you are still young. Sixty actually sounds kind of old.

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Faith

This (Life) Too Shall Pass

Rebekah Matt2 Comments

There were some days, years ago, when I thought I was going to lose my mind.

I had several children underfoot, some not neurotypical, and there were days when I didn’t handle the stress very well. I cried out to God for help, but it so often seemed like he wasn’t listening. I wondered sometimes how I was going to make it through.

And then my mother-in-law would come over for a visit and in her calm, gentle, non-judgmental way, she would say to me, “This too shall pass.”

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Faith

When Trouble Strikes, What Will You Reap?

Rebekah MattLeave a comment

Recently I taught 1 Corinthians 13 (the “love chapter”) to a class of four- to six-year-olds. It’s a famous passage; you’ve probably heard these verses at weddings, or in a sermon about how we should love others. I’m probably not the only one with part of this verse artfully inscribed on a plaque that sits on a shelf in my home.

How do we love others well? If you’ve ever wondered, this chapter will leave no doubt in your mind.

The practical how-to verses (v. 4–8) are right in the middle: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

In this passage, there are eleven straightforward, everyday signs (displays or expressions) of love that we should be attempting with those around us every single day … followed by five looser, more general concepts as reminders of the abiding characteristics of love.

I’ve considered these verses many times during the thirty years that I’ve been a Christian. In fact, I bought that decorative plaque that I mentioned during the time in my life when I had several young children underfoot. During those busy and chaotic years, I realized how much I needed a constant reminder of how to show love to everyone in my household (husband included).

Lately I’ve been thinking about these verses again regarding family … extended family, that is, and how we respond to difficulty or tragedy when it strikes. Because none of us will escape trouble of varying degrees in our lives. At some point, and more than once, it’s going to strike.

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