"The Sunday of a Young Preacher's Dream"

Could you imagine being a basketball player and getting to play basketball with Michael Jordan? Or imagine having a passion for golf and having the opportunity to play with Tiger Woods! Imagine how you would feel if you were a businessman and could have lunch with Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. You could only imagine the honor, excitement and life changing experience it would be for you. You just got a call from the President of the United States or your hero, and they invited you to join them for lunch. Wow! That is exactly how I felt when my Pastor, mentor, coach and father like figure, Jack Cunningham, called me and said, "Matt I want you to come preach for me!" It's always a humbling experience for me to be able to minister for my Pastor and mentors. I can't even describe the feeling of appreciation that floods my soul. It's hard to fall asleep at night when you think that you'll be preaching for your coach and Pastor in the morning. However, because Jack Cunningham has always been my number one encourager and believed in me when I was a "nobody" and just a young struggling preacher, it was easy for me to step into his pulpit Sunday and minister the word of the Lord.

Pastor Cunningham's imprint on my life and ministry is the very cause of my "success" as a preacher. I'd never be what I am today without his leadership, mentorship, belief in me, and the time that he invested in my ministry. I'll forever thank God for the day that I submitted my ministry into the hands of Jack Cunningham; it was the wisest and safest decision of my life. I believe that God has given me a special anointing on my life, ministry and Soul Winners Boot Camp because of my honor, submission and obedience to my Pastor. If you are reading this, and you are a young minister, please take my words to heart, and find yourself a man that you can trust, and make him your Pastor. Then, make sure that you listen to every single word, serve him and always show double honor to him. Your ministry will sky rocket the moment that you submit to Apostolic Authority!

I'd actually like to write a book about my Pastor and share with the world what kind of man we've all been gifted with. He is the wisest and most Apostolic leader among us. I'm so blessed and thankful to be under his covering and leadership. We had a day of miracles yesterday, and God blessed with an outpouring of His Spirit and Blessing! God gloriously filled 32 people with the Holy Ghost, and we baptized 12 in the name of Jesus Christ. God used me to speak to Bible World Church on Sunday night, "The Fruit of a Soul Winner!" You could literally feel the gift of faith rise in the atmosphere, and there was a fresh anointing of Soul Winning that was baptized upon Bible World Church. I'm so excited about going back in October and November. God has blessed that church, and I'm thrilled to play a small role in the next level of Bible World Revival.

Coming Up - I'm going to be with my mentor, Anthony Mangun, and the Pentecostals of Alexandria, September 9-13th for a Soul Winning Revival. You can watch live on the Web at thepentecostals.org; I'll be preaching on Soul Winning on Wednesday and Sunday night. I'm anxious to be with the Manguns and that great church. Thank you for your prayers, friendship and support.

Matt's Remaining Schedule for 2009

Revival at Turn Point - Columbus, Ohio

Saturday night, my flight arrived in Columbus, Ohio, for a Sunday of Holy Ghost Revival with Pastor Joe Arata and Turn Point Church! It is such an honor to be considered a God called Evangelist to the Turn Point church that has experienced unprecedented Revival. On Sunday morning, I preached, “What to do after you Receive Jesus”, and God filled 7 sweet people with the Holy Ghost, and we baptized 3 in the name of Jesus Christ. Sunday night, I preached, “Extreme Evangelism”, and God filled 2 more with the Holy Ghost.

The Turn Point Church is by far one of the top 5 churches that I’ve ever been to in my entire ministry. What a blessed church! I strongly urge pastors or leaders to visit Turn Point in Columbus, Ohio, to experience what God is doing in the city of Columbus. It’s a church that understands worship, perhaps because they are so blessed with the ministry of Mark Condon - http://markcondon.com. Turn Point is led by Pastor Joe Arata, a man of true integrity and passion for the Kingdom. You’ll not find a leader with any more consistency and kindness than Joe Arata. I’m blessed beyond words to be able to minister at Turn Point on a monthly basis. We’ve had 225 baptized in Jesus name since December 7, 2008, and God has filled 220 with the Holy Ghost. Turn Point has an average attendance of 450 and has as good of potential as any church that I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t wait to go back on October 25, 2009! I love you, Turn Point, and appreciate your consistent hospitality and love for me and my ministry.

Sincerely,

Matt Maddix

"When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear"

For those of us that are sometimes hard headed, there will come a time when life’s lessons will have to knock us flat on our back to get our attention. I am working on listening to the whispers so I do not have to hear the screams. How many times in our lives have we ignored the little gentle nudges that came to us? How many times do we overlook the little warning signs or red flags? It is too bad that many of us have to experience some sort of tragedy or huge life changing event just to get our attention or wake us up. I am the kind of person that usually listens to the gentle whispers of God’s voice or life’s simple lessons. However, it seems that I have been just a little hard headed here lately, and Jesus has been sending me stronger and stronger messages.

They all begin with little gentle nudges, reminders, and cautions. It was an older minister saying, “Matt, you need to pace yourself, slow down, and take care of you!” It was a friend saying, “Matt, I’m worried about you, you don’t look good!” It was another minister saying, “Matt, you can’t keep going like this, you’ll burn out and be like a shooting star that fades!” It was the voice of my Mom, “Matt, please slow down buddy!” It was the voice of very concerned loved ones saying, “Matt, Caleb needs his daddy for a long time, and you can’t imagine what it would do to him if something happened to you!” Wow! You would think that hearing the same thing over and over again, “Matt, you’re not looking good,” that I would wake up, slow it down, and rest! However, for the first time in my life, I did not know how to get a grip, slow it down, or stop my “make it happen” mentality of life!

Life can be so unpredictable at times. There are moments in our life when at the snap of a finger we suddenly fall asleep at the wheel of life. We wake up not feeling good and knowing that something is just not right. While there are times that the devil strikes our bodies with infirmities and diseases, most of the time our sicknesses and ailments are a result of us not eating and resting properly. Many of our sicknesses are actually brought into our life as a result of stress. Stress is a killer. Many of us are battling with severe stress. I would not even want to tackle the subject of “Stress in the Ministry” at this point, but I would caution all of those involved in ministry to please find ways to distress your life and mind. For me, it was a trip to the emergency room a few weeks ago and hearing the doctor say, “Matt, had you waited 30 more minutes to come here, it would’ve been fatal!” I sought the doctor’s wisdom and expertise on what had triggered this in my body. The doctor told me what I had feared the most, “Matt, it was most likely triggered by stress!”

Okay, I am ready to hear what the teacher has to say! For me, it is no longer gentle whispers, but rather screams in my ear, “Matt slow down and rest!” I am not a super hero! The world could survive a few weeks without, “Matt Maddix!” I do not have to go 90 miles per hour everyday of my life. I do not have to keep a schedule that God never intended for my body to handle. We abuse our bodies doing the “work of God.” All along God is saying, “Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” When I consider that God rested after six days of work, I am ready to rest. All medical experts will tell you that rest will actually make you more productive. Therefore I am ready to listen! No more hitting the snooze button in the life of Matt Maddix! I have got the message. There will be drastic action taken to ensure that the sweetest little seven-year-old boy in the world has a happy, fresh, healthy, and balanced daddy!

Matt Maddix

"Hope for the Heart Broken"

“Caleb Put His Shirt On Backwards and it Changed My Life”

One of my favorite quotes says, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Apparently I was ready for one of the greatest life lesson reminders yesterday morning. My son was getting ready for school and I had told him, “Son, hurry up and get dressed so we aren’t late!” Little Caleb put his underwear, socks, and pants on, and all he had to do was throw on his shirt. I happened to be brushing my teeth as I looked over at little Caleb and saw that he had just put his shirt on backwards. Usually Caleb is a little on the grouchy side in the mornings. However, as he looked to me in frustration and confusion about his shirt being on backwards, we both just started cracking up. We were laughing so loud that the neighbors had to be thinking that we were watching a comedy movie at 7:00 a.m. After dropping him off at school, I was thinking to myself on the way into Jamba Juice for my 2-ounce shot of Wheat Grass, “Gee, Caleb sure was in a really good mood!” What caused this today? I sat there and thought: “Wait a minute! There are actually a few lessons we can learn from Caleb’s little blunder today”:

1. Don’t Take Life So Seriously – We all need a reminder that we are not supposed to sweat the small stuff. Life is too short to be so uptight, angry, or serious. There are times when you just need to realize that it’s just not a big deal.

2. Remember To Laugh – When was the last time you just laughed at yourself, at one of your mistakes, or in the face of adversity? Laughter truly is better than medicine, and it is healthy for the soul and mind! It actually was nice to take a few minutes to laugh about something that most people have grown much too stressed or calloused to enjoy.

3. Don’t Be Negative – I know far too many parents that pass negativity down to their kids in the small moments of their lives. It could have been as small or seemingly harmless as saying, “Come on, can’t you tell which way to put your shirt on?” However, we as parents, leaders, spouses, friends, or bosses need to remember the power of positive thinking and speaking.

4. Change – We all overlook things, drop the ball, make mistakes, and “fail.” However, we must never get to the place where we can’t admit, take full responsibility for, or simply make the changes necessary to put us back on the right path or in the right direction. After our few minutes of cracking up and a few positive words, I just simply said, “No biggie buddy, just turn it around and put it on right!” Remember that you can change, and many times we are just one or two adjustments away from positive and successful results in our lives.

Isn’t it amazing that just a few powerful principles can be refreshed within us at the most unlikely times and through the most unlikely circumstances? The next time something doesn’t happen the way you want it to or thought it should, simply ask the question, “What can I learn from this?” Never lose your passion to learn and grow from each experience and situation in your life. God bless you as you get back on your feet, let go of your past, and move towards success, prosperity, and positive results in your life, business, family, and Christianity.

Matthew J Maddix

http://swbootcampfire.com

“Dad, would you just make a decision?”

Tonight I threw my son for a loop and gave him a choice, “Son, we can go home, snuggle up and watch a good movie or we can go play some more baseball and hockey, what would you rather do?” He contemplated for about 4 minutes and then asked the most fantastic question, “Why can’t we just do both?” A little awed by his sweet faith and confidence to ask his daddy anything, I just stared at him and chuckled. While we were going through the grocery store picking up a few things for the house and for his lunch tomorrow he said, “Dad, would you just hurry and make a decision?” I got the biggest kick out of his grown up request and plea for me to, “Make a Decision!”

Friends, we can’t forget or neglect the reality that there are those that are waiting on us to, “Make Decisions!” The book, Why CEO’s Fail, says that the number one reason why CEO’s fail is because of a lack of execution. I want you to be honest for a moment and become extremely transparent with yourself. What in your life have you been putting off, and what needs immediate execution? If you are sincere about being a successful business man, Christian, husband, or whatever it may be, then you must become action oriented. Needless to say, Caleb and I just finished snuggling up to a good movie because daddy decided that it was a little too late to play baseball and hockey. God bless you this week as you choose to take action on the urgent priorities of your life.

Matt Maddix
http://swbootcampfire.com/