Triple Skinny's Blog

2006-11-19T00:02:00.000-05:00

I've been considering moving to Xanga. Then I can post videos and stuff. Also, Jared's on Xanga. If I move it will be to xanga.com.tripleskinny. But, nothing's on it right now, but there will be soon. Right now there is music though.
by the way, this is my 55th post

2006-10-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

I am about to write another post. If there is anybody out there anymore. If you are out there and are reading this post if you could comment to let me know it's beneficial to go on.
I'm working on part 3 of the "Sovereignty of God in the Life of a College Student" series. It's gonna be really good. Some really great twists in my life since the last one.
Hope everyone that reads this is having a great day,
matthew

It's just been a great day...

2006-09-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a great day. I had to wake up early to help my dad move a refrigerator in Tellico Village. It was earlier than I usually wake up, so I was really tired. I played my "coffeehouse" playlist on from my iPod the whole drive there and to Pellissippi. This Playlist consist of music you'd usually find in coffeehouses. It has some jazz and some real mellow alternative, the kind of music that makes coffee taste even better while listening to it. After I went to Tellico, I stopped my Starbucks to get some coffee. Man, I don't think coffee has ever tasted so good. I was barely awake and with the music going, it was like heaven. I think I'll have to make it a regular occasion.

The Sovereignty of God in the Life of a College Student Part 2

2006-09-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last time, I talked about God's sovereignty in my life and trusting God. On Saturday, I got the pleasure of working the souvenir booth at the UT game with Meagan Rimshaw. We ended up talking about the last post and talking about it in more detail. She really helped me see it in a way I'd never thought about it. It really helped me trust in God more.
Isn't it great how God will bring other people into our lives to help us in our walk with Him? Isn't also great that he decides to use us in our brothers and sisters lives to make them more like Christ? (like Meagan helped me on Saturday.) I just love how God decides to use sinners saved by His grace to help other sinners saved by grace. And that he empowers us by His Spirit to help each other grow in the likeness of Christ! Isn't He good!

Ok, back to the post: I think as college students we can worry about things alot. Like, "What am I gonna do after I get out of college?" "Where am I gonna live next year?" "What kind car should I get?" "Should I have a girlfriend?" " Who am i gonna marry?" "Did I kiss Marriage goodbye?" "What job should I have right now?" "What am I gonna eat today?" " What am I gonna do about the paper due in 6 minutes?" "Paper or Plastic?" "Hard taco or soft taco?"
Our lives are filled with these worrisome questions. And they happen all the time. And guess what? From what I gather, they're not gonna stop when we get out of college, when we get a job, when we get married. They may change, but the tendencies won't stop.
I think these thoughts can show a heart that doesn't fully trust in God. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't evaluate the future, or think through these big decisions, but that while we plan and think we should always remember that God is ultimately in control.
I think these questions are all centered around our needs: Our need for financial provision, a need for some sort of place to live, a need for a spouse, girlfriend, or relationship, a need to eat. Now these needs are not all inherently bad. I mean some are kinda necessary: eating, drinking, a place to live, etc. And some are even good things to desire, good character qualities to have. Dr. Al Mohler, in an article showing the characteristics of a godly man, says that some of the character qualities are: Economic maturity sufficient to hold an adult job and handle money, Maturity sufficient to marry and fulfill God's purposes.
See, these needs are not bad in and of themselves. The problem I think is that we forget our greatest need. You see, our greatest need has already been met. Our greatest need is to be delivered from the wrath of God that we deserve. That's our greatest need. And you know what, it's already been met! Jesus Christ died for our our sins, thus fully taking care of our greatest need. It's like the song says:

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in Me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt a heart of stone

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Oh, praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead

Isn't God good to us! He sends His Son to come to earth and He crushes Him for us.
"It was the Will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for sin"
~ Isaiah 53:10

Jesus came to the earth with one mission: to save sinners. People argue over which superhero was the greatest, but we know the greatest superhero this world has ever know, Jesus Christ. He was the Savior of the world! He came to save sinners, the very one's that sin against Him. That's you and me! He came into the world to die for us! To save us!
Now, sometimes I think, "well that's great! I mean that's the best news I could ever hear! But what does that have to do with me and my situation? I mean, I am eternally grateful for the forgiveness of my sins, and I will never see the wrath of God, but what does that have to to with me right now?"
Well, the answer to that question is found in Romans 8:31-39

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died— more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? * No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God not only gives us His Son, our greatest need, but he gives us our daily needs as well. God is intricately apart of all our lives. He is concerned about all the little details in our lives. He knows us by name, He called us by name! How kind and gracious our God is!
This encourages me in trusting God for my needs. He knows our needs better then we do. He knows us better then we do. And He care for us as His children. What a God we serve!

The Sovereignty of God in the Life of a College Student Part 1

2006-09-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

As a college student who's graduating in May, I sometimes have trouble trusting God and His sovereignty. The truth is that I have nothing to fear. I serve a faithful God who has never let me down. There is nothing to fear because God has everything planned out for me. Though I don't see it fully, He has everything under control. Two Sundays ago, Mrs. LaMacchia reminded me of this in a prophetic word she gave that Sunday. She said God wanted to encourage people who had trouble trusting God. She said for those people God was wanting to bring them into a place of more dependence on God. Looking back on that, I see that God has brought me into a place where I need to rely on His faithfulness. It's because I have nothing to offer. Not only am I a sinner in total need of God's grace, but in my particular situation I bring nothing to the table. I will have a 2-year Applied Associates degree in a field where there is not many opportunities. Also, with my commitment to this local church, it limits my options on where to work. So in my case in particular, I need to trust God, because there is nothing in myself I can trust. It is a very humbling experience to be in.
We all have to remind ourselves that God is faithful. He has been, is now, and will forever be. The song "He's Always Been Faithful" by Sara Groves really illustrates this well.

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me.

I have to remember that I have seen God's faithfulness again and again and again and again. Throughout my short 19 years of living God has never let me down. He never once has stopped pouring out grace in my life. There is a verse in Jeremiah that has served me in this area. It is from Jeremiah 32:38-41:
And they shall be my, and I will be their God.
I will give them once heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will no turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

Isn't that an amazing verse! I mean " I will rejoice in doing them good"! That God rejoices in doing good to us! That gives me hope. Another one of these verses is Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Meditating on these scriptures help us remember God's faithfulness and goodness to us. They help point us to the ultimate sovereignty of God. They help us remember that as followers of Christ "all things work together for good" They remind us of what a wonderful and powerful God we serve!

The Tale of Two Kevins

2006-09-08T00:11:00.000-05:00

Here is the Tale of Two Kevins:

once upon a time there were two Kevins
They both looked up to the Heavens
They both counted stars up to sevens
while they looked up to the Heavens
then came along an Evans
he said, "Hey, why are you all looking at the Heavens?"
"I don't know" said the Kevins
"We thought we'd sit here and count to sevens"
"Well, I'm leaving. This is stupid" said the Evans
this is the story of the two Kevins
who looked up into the Heavens

2006-09-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

ok, I'll try to think of something funny, interesting, or serious (ok, maybe not serious)

poor Meagan. All alone at Roane State. We really are starting to miss her here. It's one of those things where you walk through the cafeteria and expect to see her, and then you think "hey, is that Meagan?" "wait, she's not here" It's kinda weird............................... yeah

Disclaimer:
(this was not meant to be a sad post)

2006-08-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

TONIGHT IS THE FIRST VFC!!!

I THINK I'M GOING TO EXPLODE!

AAAAAHHHAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

(boom)

2006-08-16T14:24:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,
... ... ... yeah, I forgot what I was gonna say... more on that later

matthew

Double Trouble Movies

2006-08-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

I know some of you have heard of, or seen the movie Double Trouble. This movie was made by me and Pierce LaMacchia. We have made 2 Double Trouble movies and the third one is one the way. Until then, I have posted all of the Double Trouble series on the website/search engine YouTube. Now, both Double trouble movies will be available to watch online. I also should be posting more than just Double Trouble movies on YouTube

In Addition to that I have an announcement: The third and final Double Trouble is in pre-production and will be coming out soon. I have posted a teaser trailer for DT3 on YouTube.

The link to be able to see these videos and any others I post is:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mgreynolds

RELAY Summer Retreat 2006 update

2006-07-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

hey,
Because of the harsh scolding by Meagan Rimshaw on the last post I am now posting another one. Here is an update on the RELAY Retreat:

yesterday we got in and got everything set up. The MediaShout Software for putting the lyrics on the screen didn't work at first. Then, 15 min before the session it decided to work. That was my first time running MediaShout, so it went pretty smoothly. We had a couple times where Casey would start a song out a different way and the words to another verse were on the other screen. We also forgot the blank cd's for the cd burner. So we thought we didn't have any copy of the first message. Then, during announcements, we had an idea: why not sit in the front row with a video camera and get the audio that way. So we did get the audio for the message.
Then, we had a video. it was the 2005-2006 Year in Review video. It worked really well, except at the first when we were all sitting there watching it, lights off, and the sound came on, but not the video. So we heard the video, but didn't see it. Leslie told me afterward that she thought, "I didn't think there was this much music over black". Casey, not knowing there was something supposed to be up on the screen, and knowing that I was nervous about the whole thing, leaned over and said, "Well, so far so good" That's when it hit me that there was supposed to be something on the screen. I grabbed the remote for the projector and pushed every button on there until the video came up.
Other than that, it's been really smooth running so far.

See ya all later,
Matthew Reynolds

RELAY Summer Retreat 2006!

2006-07-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

Hey Everybody!

We are about to leave for the RELAY Retreat! I can't wait to see what God is going to do at this retreat! I'll have a follow-up post when we get back.

See Ya,
Matthew Reynolds

Target is a very fun place to hang out

2006-07-09T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hello,
I haven't posted in a while because I've been kinda busy. I also have ran out of things to say. I don't think anyone reads them anyway, but that's a different story. After Church today I went to Target with 6 of the coolest people I know. We pretty much went there just to hang out. It was fun. You should try it sometime.

Anyway, that's been about it.

Talk to you later

Disclaimer for the last post

2006-06-25T22:11:00.000-05:00

I was just making sure you all knew that the poem from the last post was written as fiction. It didn't really happen. Just making sure you all knew.

A Love Poem

2006-06-14T21:02:00.000-05:00

here's a poem that was inspired from Josh Harris' exhortation at the end of New Attitude about courting:

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
I tried to ask your dad
But he told me to shoo

Your dad's e-mail I tried to get
But he told me I wasn't ready yet
I told him he should get set
Because you were the one I wanted to get

Random Matthew Reynolds Fact

2006-06-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

I just watched "Return to Me" with my Mom. That is a great movie. I love romantic movies. And I really like love songs. I have the ultimate love song collection, 243 songs worth of 16 hours and 45 mins of love song goodness. I bet that's 2 "Random Matthew Reynolds Facts" that you didn't know... I'll be posting more of these "Random Matthew Reynolds Facts" soon. Also, I'm thinking about writing another poem, any suggestions?

I'll talk to you all later,
Matthew

I think they were talking about someone else

2006-06-04T19:40:00.000-05:00

Hello all:
I was talking to Paul Steele and he told me I should write a post about today from my perspective, so hear we go:

Today was a very interesting day. It seemed like it wasn't just your normal day. No, really it didn't. One reason I could tell something was up was the number of people reminding me to stay in the auditorium during worship and announcements. I think the total number of people was 8. After about 5 it started getting suspicious. It started last night when I got an e-mail from Allyson Hughes who does some of the admin stuff for the Tech team:

Hey, Matthew!

I know that sometimes you guys switch the schedule around to fit you guys better. Can you let me know who is running recording/duplication this Sunday? David Cochran's on the schedule, but I'm not sure. Matthew [Lindsey] needs to know.

Thanks!
Allyson

Hey Allyson,
Thanks for checking up on us. I will be the one doing
Recording/Duplicating on Sunday. David and I switched
last week and this week b/c of New Attitude.
Thanks,
Matthew Reynolds

Totally cool. Can you make sure that you're out in the auditorium during announcements?

Thanks,
Allyson

So, yeah after that I think David Cochran got confused on the whole thing. They called him because he was the one originally scheduled for today. They told him that if I was back there helping out to make sure I got in the auditorium during announcements. Today he came up to me and said "If you see Matthew Lindsey walking around out here near announcements, can you make sure he gets in the auditorium, they are secretly honoring him today."
Then, later Matthew Lindsey saw me making cd's before worship and wanted to make sure I didn't miss any of worship or annoucements because I was serving. Joe Hamilton also reminded me not to miss worship or the announcements
During worship it got a little more confusing. I had to run back to the lobby to do something with the cd duplicator. Another time I had to go and turn on the audio and video for the White Oak Room. Both times Joe gave me a weird look like "why won't you stay in the auditorium?" because it was getting close to the end of worship.
Also during worship, my dad came over to me in the back and told me that Matt Bowman was being honored today and that I should stay in for that. He left and I thought, "right, Matthew Lindsey and Matthew Bowman both being honored at the same time, I don't think that's just a coincidence."
When you put it all together: the constant reminders to stay in the auditorium, the honoring of too many Matthews, and the weird looks from Joe; it got a little suspicious. My pride even jumped in and said, "hey, maybe your getting honored today" It was all just too weird.

Then, the announcements came. When Mr. Varnedoe started out by saying, "I want someone to come to the stage. I know he's not going to like it this way." I thought, "well, it's obviously someone humble, it must not be me. I think it may be Matthew Lindsey, he's humble. But there's no way it's me now."
Well, I was wrong. It was a little freaky walking all the way from the back to the stage. Nobody knew what was going on and everyone kept on staring at me as I walked past. Mrs Elledge told me afterwards, "Mrs Cahill was sitting next to me and leaned over and said, ' Is he getting married?"
I got to the stage and exclaimed, "wow, that's a ton of people!" (that's the reason Mr. Varnedoe laughed.) When he was speaking I didn't know what to do: "do I look around at the congregation?, do I look at Mr. Varnedoe? do I look at my parents? do I look at Paul in the lighting booth? why is Matthew Lindsey coming towards me with a black bag in his hands? man, it feels like I'm going to be sacrificed walking up these steps."
"Then a standing ovation? Why in the world are they doing that? Is there someone behind me we're honoring too? I wonder if they're doing the VFC Clap?"
I was really was a blessing to have my church doing that. I really did feel God's pleasure during that moment. It was pretty amazing. Mr. Varnedoe was right though, it's all because God has radically transformed my life. 3 years ago, before I was saved, this would have never been possible. It's all because of God's grace in my life. Therefore, God gets all the glory. It's work in my life that makes all this possible and it's His Church that I get to serve in.

Thank you all for glorifying God by honoring one of His servants. I am deeply affected.

NA: Day 3, Afternoon

2006-05-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

Wow, what an amazing time we are having at New Attitude. (sorry, it seems like I'm rubbing it in. I'm really not, just excited) Yesterday was the most amazing day for messages. God has really blessed us with gifted speakers at this conference. Yesterday we had three messages.
First, in the morning, we had Mark Devor speak on the storyline if the Bible. Remember when he spoke at Celebration on 1 Corinthians and went through the entire book? Well, let's multiply that a little. Mark Devor took it a step further. He used the same type of formula but went through the entire Bible. That's right, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. From page 1 to page 1252 (ok, well not every page, but you get the idea)
Second, in the afternoon, Mike Bullmore spoke on the Centrality of the Gospel. He spoke on how the Gospel applies to all aspects of life. He taught us how to take the Gospel and truths derived from the Gospel and apply them to every part of our lives. It really spurred everyone on to grow in Godliness.
Then, in the evening, the moment we had all been waiting for... C.J. Mahaney on the Cross. He went through a meditation of Jesus' atoning death on the Cross. He spoke mostly out of Isaiah 53 and it was compelling.
This has really been the best conference as far as the content of the messages spoken that I have ever been to. As far as that is concerned, it really blows Celebration out of the water. These speakers have really brought the very best of the best of their messages.
Speaking of Celebration, I was joking with Mr. Kittrell last night about his involvement in bringing New Attitude back from the dead. (supposedly he was a big part in pulling some strings to try to get them to bring it back again) I said, "You've succeeded in bringing New Attitude back, do you think you have a chance of bringing Celebration back?" He was writing something down at the time I asked him that and didn't even look up as he replied, "Yeah, 2008." CELEBRATION 2008!!! I can't wait! This is really exciting news!

ok, see you all later...

NA: Day 1

2006-05-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

Well, the first day of New Attitude is over. We just heard an AMAZING message by Josh Harris on Humble Orthodoxy (a commitment to the Truths of the Bible).

I'll talk to you later, Paul wants me to go to bed.

bye...

New Attitude!

2006-05-26T22:58:00.000-05:00

The Time Has Come!
New Attitude is tomorrow!
I can't wait to hear the amazing messages we will hear there. I've never heard Josh Harris speak in person so I'll be looking forward to that! Hear are the topics for the Main Sessions:

Joshua Harris: The Truth - Rediscovering Humble Orthodoxy

Mark Dever: The Story - Understanding the Story Line of the Bible

Mike Bullmore: The Life - Applying the Gospel to All of Life

C.J. Mahaney: The Cross - Meditation on Jesus' Atoning Death

Jeff Purswell: The Power - Understanding and Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Eric Simmons: The Mission - Reaching the World Next Door

Joshua Harris: The Family - Taking It Home to Your Local Church Community

WOW! I told my Mom the topics and she was shocked. She said it was like having a Greatest Hits Collection of past Celebration conferences. I can't wait to benefit from hearing these gifted men speak. C.J. on the Cross, Josh Harris on the Church, Mark Dever on the Bible! How much better does it get?!

See you all when we get back (don't forget to pray for us)!

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody:
The last few weeks I have been debating on whether or not to see the movie, The Da Vinci Code. My decision finally came this week when I watched an interview with the cast and fimmakers and when I read some quotes from the movie. Here's some of what I heard to help you all understand my decision and help you all make a decision of your own (you all have probably made a decision). This will also help you all be more informed about what kind of attacks are out there against the Bible, Christianity, and God Himself.

ok, here's the interview. It was from the Today show on NBC: (this was taken from a website review)

Matt Lauer"There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I'm saying is, people wanted this to say 'fiction, fiction, fiction'. How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?"

There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings], piped up:

"Well, I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they've seen it."

With the camera focused on McKellen, one could hear a distinctly nervous laugh in the background, seeming to come from either actor Tom Hanks or director Howard. McKellen's stunning bit of blasphemy is likely to test the adage that all publicity is good publicity.

Here's a link for the mp3 of the interview: http://newsbusters.org/media/2006-05-17-NBCToday.mp3

ok, that was one reason. Another was some of the quotes from the movie. These are taken from Plugged In Online, a Christian movie review site kinda like Screen It. Here They are:

Robert's old friend and fellow historian, Sir Leigh Teabing, goes to some length to blame God and His followers for the majority of the world's illsÂpast and present. In his mind, freedom for mankind can come only if everyone stops believing in God. "As long as there has been one true God, there has been killing in His name," he states. Later he asks, "What if the world finds out that the greatest story ever told is a lie?" And he wants Jesus to be "shown for what He was, not miraculous, mad."

here's another one:

A mysterious albino monk (named Silas), who is under orders from a dogmatic Roman Catholic sect, prays in front of a crucifix before setting out to kill. He also prays over a person he has just slain. He allows a victim to recite a last prayer before shooting him. And he says, "Christ give me strength," before killing.

and yet another one:

A secret society says its mission is to "protect the source of God's power on earth." A clue unearthed by the monk contains a stone with Job 38:11 etched on it; a nun later recites part of the verse: "This far you may come and no farther." The nun then tells Silas: "Jesus had but one true message." Sophie later challenges the same killer monk: "Your god doesn't forgive murderers; he burns them."

Well, I think that about covers the decision not to see the movie. I came to the conclusion that I did not have self-control to sit through that movie.

ok, talk to you later...

Sundown in the City

2006-05-19T07:50:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to Sundown in the City @ Market Square. The person performing was Imogen Heap. She was a little weird. She played a bunch of sythesizers. The cool thing was it was just her on stage doing it all.
I went with my good friend, Pierce LaMacchia, and someone from work.
Sundown is always a interesting experience. It is a place where sin runs rampant. It was really sad to see people indulging in the flesh like that. It reminds me of what Paul describes in Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6. It really showed me how ugly sin really is. Sometimes we don't see sin for what it really is, an offence to God. Jerry Bridges puts it best in "The Gospel For Real Life.":

It is here that we begin to realize the seriousness of sin. All sin is rebellion against God's authority, a despising of His Law, and a defiance of His commands. W.S. Plumer wrote, "We never see sin aright until we see it as against God. All sin is against God in this sense that it is His Law that is broken, His authority that is despised, His government that is set at naught (nothingness).

Sundown helped reinforce that idea. It reminded me that my sin is no different then the sin I saw last night.

Sundown did help me see a gift that God has given me, my sisters in Christ. What a gift you all are to us poor guys! As I saw guys and girls giving themselves away to each other, I was reminded of how Godly my sisters are and how committed to purity they are. I saw the big contrast between the world and these girls, and it is a huge contrast! I also was reminded of how wise and Godly my parents were in keeping straight in line and not letting me go astray.

Now, this is for all the RELAY guys that read my blog: LOOK AROUND YOU!!! LOOK AT THE GIFT GOD HAS GIVEN TO YOU! HE HAS GIVEN YOU GODLY SISTERS AND GODLY PARENTS! YOU WILL NOT EASILY FIND THIS AROUND YOU WHEN YOU GET TO COLLEGE!

You are in a unique position as homeschoolers in that the only people you have to interact with during the schooltime is your family and people from Church. Do you see what a gift God has given you? He has sovereignly put you in a Godly family and sovereignly put you in an amazing Church!

Just a few thoughts from someone a little bit older...

Coincidence, I think not!

2006-05-13T00:37:00.000-05:00

I have a problem. I now have a fan club it seems. I have seen these 3 people at least once every single day this week.

I think they are following me...
We'll have to wait and see how this turns out...
Talk to you later...

New Blog!!!

2006-05-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

Well, here is the new blog. With new looks comes a new look on blogging. I am going to try to post more often and be more open with the posting. If anybody has any suggestions they would like to see please let me know in person or on the comment section.

also, I am going to try to get more people into the blogging sphere, so expect to see some new faces

Thank You,
Matthew Reynolds

WOW!! What a school year!

2006-05-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am going to try to recount the past school year now that I am done with this semester:

P.S. (this is more for my enjoyment and recollection. It's good for me to remember and then get it on paper. Thanks

Here we go:

August:

Welcome Booths:
I met a lot of interesting people helping out with the booths.

Helped out with the filming and editing of the UT Freshman: A Documentary Part 2. Met Josh Cantrell for the first time. No comment. Also met Lora Dickson, Hannah Poschel, Holly Fisher, and Andrew Thornberry.

Dishwater Blonde Concert:
Great concert. Met John Mason, Stephen Brickey, and many others.

First Bible Study:
Got lost trying to find Clement. Walt wasn't much help. Started to get to know Brenden Japp better.

September

Went on vacation with my family.

VFC party at the VFC house. karaoke. That was funny. Met Travis Evans. We sang "Build Me Up Buttercup" together. Watching the interns sing "Celebration" was priceless. Wasn't as funny as seeing Tara Ferrell try to sing "Love Shack" and then realizing that the last verse was really bad.

Started really enjoying going to Gus's after VFC. Threw a ketchup packet in Tara's hair. The ketchup packet popped open when it hit her. She has never forgotten that incident.

LSU game party:
I stayed for the entire game. All the guys there revealed a lot of sin that was in our hearts. We threatened to burn all of our UT appeal before halftime. Brenden left at halftime. The rest of us enjoyed a great 2nd half.

Football booths:
These were a blast! Travis Evans and I tried the entire season to get the oven to work. It didn't like us. We had to hit it very hard to get it to work. We prayed for it to work. The last game of the season it worked. We still to this day believe the oven was demon-possessed

October

ANTHEM!!!
WOW!!! This was my first VFC conference. It was amazing. God really worked in our lives during that trip. I got to know a lot of people really, really well at that trip. I could spend forever writing about Anthem, but if you would like to know more I wrote a post about it a while ago, it was a good post.

VFC Fall Funk
This was a blast. Travis Evans with his headless man! Marko and Dash switching roles! I then realized that Josh Cantrell has an obsession with that dinosaur.

November

Thanksgiving:
filmed the video Double Trouble with Pierce LaMacchia all in one day. That was a really funny video. We then showed it to people at work on Black Friday the next day.

December

Cornerstone Church Grand Opening!!! enough said.

VFC Christmas Party:
It was a good time to celebrate Christmas with the people I had been spending the last months with.

New Members Sunday (fall):
It was cool to see a lot of people that I knew becoming members.

New Years Eve Party at the Japps:
It was great to bring in the new year the right way: at about 11:30 we all gathered to together to pray and thank the Lord for a great year and ask for His goodness for 2006. The clock turned 2006 exactly 3 seconds after we said amen. That was a lot better then watching a ball drop.

January

Trip to Brickey's house in Virginia:
This was one of the best trips of my life. It's the only trip that I can say has the ability to beat VQ has the best trip of my entire life. I got to know the people we went with: Marko Priestly, Anna Priestly, Tara Ferrell, Kevin Shipp, Paul Steele, Chris Plop, Wei Li, Jared Holbrook, Nick Elledge, Meagan Rimshaw, Emily Rimshaw, Eva Cochran, Traci Thornton, Lora Dickson, Hannah Poschel, Mama Jo (Joanna Holbrook), Kathleen Luster, Jill Brickey, and Stephen Brickey.
I rode up there with Marko, Anna, and Tara. I experience amazing biblical fellowship, interesting music, and a lot of fun. I don't think I would know those 3 people as well as I do if I hadn't rode with them up there. The rest of the trip was amazing. I played Murder-in-the-Dark for the first time.

I took a trip with part of my fam to go to Chicago for my brother's gymnastics meet. I had never been to Chicago before that. I really liked that city. We also stay with the Kotynski's while we were up there.

nothing else really happened in January. We stopped going to Gus's. I don't like that, I liked Gus's.

February

Voice Concert
enough said.

I think the best thing that happened in February was my birthday.

Valentine's Party:
It was a great time for us guys to serve our sisters.

Video Scavenger Hunt:
Our team won! (of course we had 2 Video Production Majors, a Photography major, a multi-thousand dollar camera, and won because of best cinematography. Oh well, I didn't pick the teams.

March

I can't really think of anything that happened during March.

April

JUST KIDDING!!!

March

VISON QUEST 2006!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that's about enough, it's an already long post. If you would like me to go into an in-depth post on VQ I can do it later, just tell me. Also, I still have more VQ DVD's for anyone interested. They are not limited to VFCers. If you were a VFCer, or know of some and heard about how amazing VQ is, or if you just want a copy I still have some more.

Women's Conference:
I did not go, but my mom told me it was amazing. She also got to know a bunch of VFCers during that trip. Those of us that stayed in town experienced a total disaster that is VFC without girls. I'm not exaggerating, it was a disaster.

April
Easter:
Easter was fun. I had a some of my closest friends over for Easter dinner: Paul Steele, Jonathan Kelfer, Eric Gamble, and Tara Ferrell.

I was sick about half of the month of April so I don't remember much.

End of the year bash:

Kickball, soccer, volleyball, frisbee, Insane concert, VFC videos, nuff said.

May

Finals:
They are now over!!!

Well that was the year. It was an amazing year. I still can't believe all this and more happened. This was the best school year of my life!

Marko Priestly

2006-05-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

here is the long-awaited (yeah right) poem about my good friend, Marko Priestly:

His name is Marko Priestly
and he really isn't greasy
He lives in a house that is pink
and yes, it really does stink
His name is Marko
but he's not that great at polo
His name is Marko Priestly
now wasn't that easy

Marko has a sister
I don't think she knows how to whisper
Her name is Anna
She played a song with Susanna
Anna is Marko's sister
Now don't waste your life mister

2006-04-13T09:56:00.000-05:00

Hello all:
I told you in the last post that I would point out observations of God's specific work in peoples lives. Here is my attempt to do that. The person I would like to introduce you to is Derrick Oster.

yeah, him. on the right.

Some of you may remember him from VQ. I remember him a long time before that. See, we were both homeschooled (see, there are cool homeschoolers out there.) We both went to Boy Scouts together back in the day. We both played basketball for the Boy's Club waaayyyy back in the day. We both went to co-op classes together. But I never really saw him outside of those times. We were friends, don't get me wrong, but it never went futher than that.
So, I was surprised to see him at Cornerstone one Sunday. See, his family had started coming to church events. (RELAY meetings, Sunday mornings, our care group, the New Members Class) They got plugged in and loved it. They started bringing Derrick (though he didn't want to come) to Sunday mornings. He never went to VFC, so when VQ came around, he didn't think much about it. His parents, on the other hand, loved the idea of Vision Quest and made him sign up and go. The first time I saw him at VFC was the meeting before VQ. He told me he was going to VQ because his parents made him and I was excited. I was excited because I knew that though he didn't have any expectations, God was going to meet him.
Well, I'll give you a preview of what's about to happened: God met him. God met him and saved him.
I'm not really sure on all the details, but he was saved at Vision Quest. I was joking with him later about it, and asked him, "so, were your expectations met? (he didn't write anything down because he didn't expect anything) he laughed and said, "yeah, I think they were definitely met"
Isn't God good to us. He providentially brought Derrick into a family that cares about him so much to make him go to a trip they know will benefit him. God providentially brought Derrick to VQ where he heard they Gospel and responded. God providentially brought Derrick to a room with 3 people he already knew (Will Kittrell, Stephen Carcello, and me) that would encourage him and build him up. God providentially brought Derrick to himself.
You know, Derrick's testimony sounds a lot like mine. It sounds like a lot of people I know. God providentially brings sinners to His' Throne of Grace, where He shows us what He did for us through the death of His' Son.

Isn't God good?

04-10-06

2006-04-10T12:25:00.000-05:00

Hello:
How has everybody's month been? I have had a great one. It had it's rough parts (some reading this know what I'm talking about). Jonathan's message on Thursday was exactly what I needed to hear that day. Isn't God good to us like that, putting things like that right when we need them the most? I think that Jonathan's message just gave me a desire for glorifying God in everything that I do, and using every moment of it. God's shown me over the past few weeks how great the relationships are in my life. I thank God everyday for these great, amazing friends. I am happy and excited when I look around and see God working in other's lives!
One of my expectations on my VQ Expectation sheet was to see God's specific work in other's lives. That expectation was exceeded by far at VQ. It's amazing to see the growth over such a short period in my friend's lives. I will share a couple observations I've seen, both at VQ and other places, in the next post. God's grace in others makes me jump up and down in excitement. (not kidding)
I'm excited to see what God has planned in the next couple of days, weeks, months, and yes even years. I'm running out of time, gotta put the headphones full of love songs (yeah, I'm a little wierd) down and do my part in bringing more people to get excited about.

Talk to you later.

2006-04-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

hello

I know I haven't posted in a while so here it goes.

Vision Quest was absolutely amazing! The best week of my entire long life!

I loved it so much I decided to write a peom about it:

VISION QUEST 2006

Vision Quest was the best
Even though we got no rest
The messages were amazing
The food made us craving
The worship was passionate
The fellowship did resonate
Vision Quest was the best
We still haven't got any rest

If you would like to see the talented side of my love for Vision Quest (that wasn't it) I made a video of all the things we did at VQ. It is 2 hours long and may be done by the time I post this. Talk to me anytime about getting a copy, I'll have enough for everybody. Cost: $1 (gotta pay for the DVD's)

bye,
Matthew Reynolds

2006-03-19T00:05:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone:

If you are reading this you are probably not at Vision Quest. This post is for you. I am dedicating this post to anyone who isn't at Vision Quest with us. This is for all the people who are too young to be at VQ (David, David, Emily, Jared I know your reading, Pierce, etc) or too old to go to VQ (Cap, Joanna, Mr. Rimshaw, my dad, Suzanne, C.J. Mahaney, etc). post as many comments as you possibly can. I want to see what the limit is on number of comments. I want to be amazed on Sat when I check my blog.
Have Fun, We miss you.

Film making

2006-03-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Hello all:
I want to first clear up a few things: unknown three is my brother (if you want to find out go to Tara's blog), unknown two is not me, I have confimed that. Unknown is still unknown publicly.

There, now that we've cleared that up, let's have some fun. I am needing some advice. Before we start commenting about random junk (which is fun, I'm not condeming it) I would like some suggestions.

First, I am planning on making a film in the next year. Yes, as outrageous as it may seem, I am planning on a full-length, not so major, motion picture. An indendent film. I would like some suggestions on if this is worthwhile, if I should be spending my time and money somewhere else, if this is a good hobby, and if it is even right for me to be making films/movies at all. The last one meaning adding to the all ready crazy media mix (in the world but not of the world kinda thing)

Second, the film I am planning is about espionage. I would like some suggestions on plot ideas (we already have some, but we can incorporate others), character ideas, location ideas, etc. I think it would be great to use some of your ideas.

After that you can post as many random, slandereous comments as you would like.

Thanks for the help. I'm not that great at the creativeness of my profession, but I have a lot of creative friends to help me out.

Comment Section

2006-03-13T18:43:00.000-05:00

I have run out of creative juice. Nobody reads the stuff I put up anyway. Everybody just goes to the comment section to argue. My advisors tell me that this is a good thing, that people are having fun. So here, here is a post so that you all can comment.

Songs

2006-03-07T14:08:00.000-05:00

Hello:
I have been gone for a while so I haven't been able to post. I went camping in Big South Fork on Sunday night. It was a disaster! It rained most of the time. We hiked to the top of the Twin Arches. It was really cool, until my "friends" forgot me at the top while I went to the bathroom. Then, one of my friends got sick because she didn't have enough food in her system. We had to rush her to the nearest fast food place about 30 minutes away. Oh yeah, then one of our vehicles broke down on the way to Onedia. It was on a hill with a 30% incline, that was fun.
Anyway, that wasn't the reason I posted. The reason was that I wanted to share with you some songs I have written in the past. They are pretty cool. Here's the first one. It's called "We Come":

Verse 1
We come to worship You
We come to bow before Your throne
We come to give our lives
To give it all to You

Chorus 1
‘Cause you saved me and raised me
Your Son has made me new
Why did you choose me as a child
When I was far from You?

Verse 2
You sent Your Son for us
He died a sinner’s death for me
He was crushed, so I could live
To live eternally

Chorus 2
‘Cause you saved me and raised me
Your Son has made me new
Why did you crush Your only Son
That I might be with You?

Bridge
So we come to Your throne of grace
Where we give You all the glory
So we come to Your throne of grace
Because of Your Son, we draw near

Ending
I wanna draw near to You
I wanna draw near to You
I wanna draw near to You
Because of Your Son, we draw near

VFC Video Scavenger Hunt 2006

2006-03-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

hello,
Last Saturday, we had the annual VFC Video Scavenger Hunt. I grabbed some of the footage off my camera to show you all. This is a first though, this is the first time I have posted a video from my new camera, I'm wondering how it will turn out. It is also the first time this video has been shown in full color. The VFC house TV doesn't show red, so it didn't come out right. This video features the rap that Travis Evans did along with a couple of other scenes.
I hope you enjoy:
Click here to play

Veggie Tales Rockin' Live Tour

2006-03-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Hey Everybody,
I wanted to let you know about the Veggie Tales Rockin' Live Tour. It will be at the Knoxville Christian Center on May 6th. I think it will be a neat show to see. I'll be there. Veggie Tales Rock.

How God has Ordained Events to where I am now

2006-02-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

The other day I was talking to Meagan Rimshaw. And yes, I did hack into her Blogger profile and created her a blog, then honored myself through it. I have to admit, it was fun. Anyway, this conversation was not about that. We were talking about God's sovereignty and how he has ordained certain events to lead us in His Will. We talked about the fact that until the spring of '05 I didn't even know what Video Production was. Now, I am fully immersed in the world of Video Production. So, after we both went our separate ways, I went to my truck and wrote down all the events I could think of that lead to me being where I am now. I thought I would share that list with you today. Here it is:

How God has ordained events to where I am now

● first started w/ the idea of Aerospace Engineering

● wanted to get degree from either UT or University of Central Florida (where my mom went to school)

● wanted to work in the space industry in Cape Canaveral: Titusville, Florida. where my dad and grandfather worked. Also where my mom grew up.

● then started to hate math

● first video: honoring Joel Baker on PowerPoint (the grace of God was evident even on PowerPoint)

● second video: helping out with Relay Retreat 2003 video first on Windows Movie Maker, then on iMovie

● dropped Engineering idea

● looking for other career/ major idea

● Decide on not leaving Knoxville because of Cornerstone Church

● started running CD duplicator at Cornerstone in Dec. 2003

● bought my first camcorder in spring 2004

● went to Celebration 2004 w/ Brad & Joe to help w/ sound set-up

● started becoming interested in audio as career

● still making videos w/ Relay, don't see it as a career yet

● started taking classes @ Pellissippi in Fall 2004 as a Senior in High School

● Have interest in both creative and technical aspects of art

● looked into Journalism (emphasis on radio)

● took a tour of WNOX w/ John Crooks

● interested in audio, but there were no technical majors in Knoxville

● started taking classes in Spring @ Pellissippi

● looked into Video Production Technology @ Pellissippi because it had a lot of audio classes in it. (only option to do audio because I wanted to stay in Knoxville with Cornerstone)

● took Intro to Desktop Audio/Video class and loved it

● met Cap Stewart and got more interested in video

● still helping out w/ Relay videos

● bought my Powerbook in spring of 2005 through my grandparents inheritance. I donÂt think I would have been as interested in video production without it. What a gift from God.

● Plew asks me to do Mission Fund video. First Cornerstone video done alone

● made an A in Intro to Desktop Audio/Video

● started liking video more than audio

● started Video Production Technology full-time in Fall 2005!

After all of these evidences of God's grace, how can I not trust Him w/ the future?

Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

2006-02-21T14:44:00.000-05:00

Change and maturity come very slowly and subtly. I have found that out the past year. This past year has been an encouraging year of growing in the Lord and growing in maturity. I think the turning point for me was graduation. At my graduation we had a mic where people (either the student or the parents) could say something about either the student or parents. I surprised everyone after getting my diploma by going to the mic and honoring my parents. Now, that may just sound like a thing anybody would do, but this was something different for me. You see, I had planned up to that day to go to the mic and make a fool of myself, which would have been the normal thing for me. Instead, something inside me told me that was foolish and I shouldn't do it.
Since then, I have grown extremely. All thanks has to be to God because I could have never done it by myself. It's all His Grace that we grow at all. I have had a couple people comment on my new found maturity and growth over the past few months. It has been encouraging to see God at work in my life.
I am reminded of the David Crowder song, "Wholly Yours":
"I am full of earth. You are heaven's worth. I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity... But a certain sign of grace is this: From the broken earth flowers come up pushing through the dirt."
I have faith that the next year will be no different. I still have a lot of room to grow! So, thanks be to God for maturing me into the man he wants me to be! Ok, enough about myself.

John Mason

2006-02-16T08:20:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna take a break from my usual traditional method of honoring to try something new. Well, it's not really that new. I'm gonna continue with my Poety for The Pink House section of the blog. Next Pinky: John Mason

John Mason is really cool
Even When he plays pool
He can be kinda nice
With all that hair he must have lice
John Mason can me really mean
At least he keeps it clean

2006-02-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

I'm back.
This weekend has been an amazing weekend! I got to see God work in many ways throughout this weekend. On Saturday, we had the VFC Valentine's Party! This night was done by the guys all for the girls. We started getting there about 4 o'clock to start preparing. It was awesome, every guy was serving. We had a crew of guys making the food (Spaghetti and Fettuccini Alfredo), we had a crew setting stuff up, a crew performing musical stuff, a crew doing a skit, a crew waiting on tables, a crew greeting, a crew parking cars (probably not a good idea), and so on and so on. It was awesome just to see the heart all us guys have for our sisters.
Thanks to any girls reading this (and those that aren't). You all are a gift from God. Seriously, we don't just say that because it's that time of year again. We admire your Godliness. We respect your humility in serving and your desire to grow in Godliness. I think it's amazing to see girls that won't let anything come between them and serving and loving the Lord. I am amazed at God's work in your lives. God has really been faithful to give us amazing, Godly, and humble sisters. Be encouraged! God is working in your lives. We see it all the time!
Guys, feel free to add to this via comments.

Honoring Session #1

2006-02-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Blogs are for honoring. I am now convinced of that. Examples: Joanna honoring CJ Mahaney, Kevin's honoring of Jill, Jenn, Craig, and Adam (kinda), Leslie honoring Laura, Leslie honoring herself through Cap's blog, Jill honoring someone every other post, and so on and so on.
After thinking about that I am convinced that I need to honor someone. Actually, I'll make it a habit. First subject: Morgan Mitchell

Name: Morgan Levi Mitchell

Born: 4/7/1987

School: Pellissippi (and later Belmont)

Major: Audio Engineering

Interests: playing guitar (he's really good), writing music, working on his Toyota Supra, and hanging out with his friends

Close friends: Andrew Goodman, Pierce LaMacchia, Stephen Brickey, Jared Graap, Joel Baker, and me, Matthew Reynolds

Why he's my best friend: Morgan is very interesting. He shares a common love with music. He is probably one of the best guitarists I have ever seen. He's fun to hang out with. These things are great, but this is what I love about Morgan: He has a love for his mom, his church, and his God. Him and his mom trust God with every molecule in their bodies. You see, I have somewhat of an insight on Morgan Mitchell. 2 years ago his dad died in a car wreck. My family was one of the first people to know about it. We ended up spending the entire weekend with the Mitchells.
After that, we have seen God work in that family. While most people would be angry with God and worrying about the future, the Mitchells trusted God with everything. I have never ever seen anyone who has trusted a faithful God this much after a trial like this. GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL! One of Mrs. Mitchell's favorite songs is "He's Always Been Faithful to Me" by Sara Groves. Here's the lyrics:

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God's hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me.

I can't remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can't remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I've heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He's always been faithful, He's always been faithful
He's always been faithful to me.

Whenever I hear that song I think of the Mitchells. I think of God's faithfulness throughout the past 2 years. Last week, a couple friends of the Mitchells came over to their house to be with them on the anniversary of Mr. Mitchell's death. It was a joyful evening! The reason for this is not because we all didn't care about his death, nor did anyone forget him. The reason is because we rejoiced with the Mitchells over God's overflowing grace. We knew that He is Faithful! He is Sovereign!

I'm posting again

2006-02-07T22:46:00.000-05:00

I think I may post again. ... Yeah, I'm gonna post again. Well... what has been going on in my world? ... ... ... (I'm still thinking).
Oh yeah! Yesterday was my birthday. People are asking me how my birthday went. Well, there's not much to say. I woke up, went to class, went to work, my friends at work gave me a brownie with a candle in it. Then I went home, went to sleep.
Anyway, this year I have decided to change my birthday to Feb. 7th. Today was such a better day than yesterday. I woke up, had a piece of cookie pie for breakfast, went to class, my 2nd class got out early. Then I went to the cafeteria to have lunch. I ate lunch with Meagan Rimshaw, Travis Evans, and Sarah Duncan. (Morgan Mitchell also came down for a few minutes) I found out through a personality test that I use mostly the right side of my brain. And I found out that I am a circle, yippi! After I left Pellissippi, I went home and played Need for Speed Underground 2. That was fun. I then ate dinner with the coolest parents in the world at Mellow Mushroom. I then went to VFC bible study, then to home. I am now writing this blog.
Anyway, I guess the only people that read my blog were in the story, so there's no reason for me to post this. Just kidding!
Matthew

ATTENTION!!!

2006-02-02T12:32:00.000-05:00

Attention Matthew Reynolds' Blog readers:

I am sending my Powerbook into Apple to get my speakers repaired. This means I will still be able to update my blog, but I will not be able to post any more media (music, audio clips, movies, etc) for 2 weeks.
In other news, VFC Freshman: A Tale of Confusion going high-tech. My blog is now available as a podcast. For those of you who don't know what a podcast is, talk to me. For those of you who do know what a podcast is, it is now available on iTunes. If you go to iTunes and search vfc (as in VFC Freshman: A Tale of Confusion) it will come up. This will only give you the audio and video I post on my blog. This also take up to a day to update to iTunes. Meaning: if I post something on Mon., it may be up Tues. night.

Bye

My Beautiful Song

2006-02-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

My Beautiful Song

Funky Groove 3

2006-02-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

Funky Groove 3

Funky Groove 2

2006-02-01T09:17:00.000-05:00

Funky Groove 2

Music

2006-01-31T22:46:00.000-05:00

I like music. I like to listen to music almost more than anything in the world. (execpt fellowshipping with friends and fellowshipping with God) I also like to make music. Even though I'm not a great at playing an instrument, ask my friends, I still like making music. Here are some songs I've been working on. They are all instrumentals, so don't worry. Also as a disclaimer, I did not play any instrument in these songs. I let the computer do all that.
Here are some of them in the next few posts.

They aren't the best in the world, not even close, but I think you all will enjoy them nontheless. (at least I did).

RELAY Summer Retreat 2005

2006-01-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone (all 3 people, other than C.J. Mahaney),

Last year Cornerstone held it's annual RELAY Summer Retreat. We made a video to show people about the trip and remind people of the time we had. It's a really good video and I'm not just saying that because I made it. I'm saying that because it shows the grace of God in the teens and parents in RELAY. God is definitely working in that ministry.

Here's the video:
click here

Role Call

2006-01-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

Ok,
before I put up another post, I need to know who's out there. This is in order to find out what my demographics are and how I can serve them best. Also, I want to make sure I don't offend anybody when I post.

So, if you are reading this post right now could you post a comment stating your name and if you feel like it, something interesting about you. (I'm not kidding)

Thanks,
Matthew

Double Trouble

2006-01-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

For the past few months I have been making a video series called Double Trouble. This video series stars my friend Pierce LaMacchia and is produced and directed by me, Matthew Reynolds.

watch it and tell me what you think, either in blog comment or in-person.

Here is the video:
click here

2006-01-20T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone.
I haven't updated my blog for a while. I couldn't think of anything to write. I also didn't think anyone is reading these anyway. My ideas were smashed last night when my friend Jeff Moore asked me to update this blog. He said he checked once a week to see if I updated it and I never had. I told him that I didn't have anything to write. He told me I should write poetry so here it is:

I call this one "Jeff"

You are a good friend of mine Jeff
Why can't you become a chef?
You would also be good as a ref
Why don't you move in with Meff?
Could you change your name to Seth?
You are a good friend of mine Jeff.

I think I have a new hobby.

Thanks Jeff

Grand Opening!!!

2005-11-28T11:42:00.000-05:00

Cornerstone Church is having it's Grand Opening this Saturday and Sunday!! I am really exited. We've already met in it twice and it's incredible. God has been so good to us by giving us this building. This building will help us to reach out to the community like never before. I can't wait till we can put this building to it's full use.
Just thought I'd get everyone pumped up about the building.

ANTHEM!

2005-10-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

yeah I know, Anthem's been over for a week and a half now. I forgot to make a post dedicated to Anthem, so here it is:

It's been a while since my last post and a lot of things have been going on since then. Last time I gave you a look into the soul of Matthew Reynolds. (somewhat) I think this is what the blog is all about, getting inside the head of Matthew Reynolds, scary. The main thing that happened since the last time we met was Anthem, VFC's fall conference. This was a trip of many firsts. This was the very first VFC fall conference, I guess it took a little to figure out we needed something to carry us over until VisionQuest, the spring conference. This was also my first VFC conference. And you know what I found out? VFC conferences rock! People have been telling me about VFC conferences for a long time and I have been trying to imagine what one would be like for a long time. I see now that what everyone has been telling me for years times a hundred is what I got at Anthem.
No one could have prepared me for the time I had at Anthem. These were some of the best, if not the best, times of my life. God moved in many ways during these three days. He met us in many ways during the messages, the worship, and the true biblical fellowship we had there.
We had four messages at Anthem. The first night Bill Kittrell (the greatest speaker of all time) spoke of the Fear of the Lord and the Holiness of the Lord. This message impacted me in reminding myself that "His opinion of my life is the only thing that matters." This had a big impact on me because I am concerned with what other people think about me. Mr. Kittrell show me that this thinking is wrong and is sin. He said that the fear of man is: a sinful concern with what people think about us.
That next morning Craig Cooper spoke on the sinfulness of man. He showed us the seriousness of sin in: 1. The problem of sin, 2. The effects of man's sin, 3. The consequences of sin, and finally 4. God's remedy for sinners. He showed us that sin cannot be overlooked. He stated that, "sin is very, very serious, and we have very, very seriously sinned."
That evening, Bruce Landis showed us the "biblical solution to the biblical problem (Holy God and sinful man)." He showed us that God made a way for sinful, men can be reconciled to a holy God by the death of Jesus Christ. That we no longer have to fear the judgment of a holy God but look forward to an eternity with Him.
The last message was by Mike Plewniak. He spoke about where are passions should be. He said, "what will be the anthem of your life if we die tonight?", "What am I going to be gripped by, my passion?", "What is going to be my anthem?" These statements impacted me in the way I live my life day-to-day. The Christian life "means living for something greater than ourselves." The anthem of our lives should be: "to make Christ look great." Mike then spurred us on to spreading this good news of salvation to everyone. He said, "we must proclaim the Gospel to others.
Then, as if the messages weren't enough, Anthem really showed me the importance of relationships. Throughout Anthem, we had many times of biblical fellowship. These were times not limited to just guys or girls but everybody. These times of biblical fellowship brought us together in a way that can only be from God. These times really developed some strong friendships through these three days. I will always remember Anthem '05 for the gift of God these friendships are to me.
In conclusion, God met us there at Anthem. He met us in a way that can only be because of Jesus' death on the Cross. But God doesn't stop there, He brings us together so we can enjoy His presence and worship Him together.
Thanks Mike, Craig, Bruce, and Bill for some outstanding messages. Thanks to all the interns for their hard work in putting this together. But most of all, thank you God for meeting us there. We can plan all we want, but we need God to meet us there.
Thanks,
Matthew Reynolds

I forgot

2005-09-28T00:36:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention that Volunteers for Christ is an outreach to the University of Tennessee.

Sorry,

matthew

I'm Back

2005-09-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,
I told you last time I would tell you a bit about myself, so here it is:
A big part of my life is devoted to my local church. If I could sum up my whole life in 2 words I would put "local church." To be more specific, my local church, Cornerstone Church in Knoxville, TN. Like I said last time, I have been going to Cornerstone for 14 years (since I was 4). Even though I grew up in the church, it wasn't until later in my life that I became a Christian. I had fooled myself into thinking that I had become a Christian a long time ago, but my life just wasn't matching up to what I was professing to be. In the summer of 2002, God started to work in my life. That summer, I started having doubts about my salvation. I started thinking about my life and what would happen if I died that night and what would happen to me. Then, God started to actively work through my life to change me like I had never experienced before.
On July 31, 2002, at a youth camp our church was going to in Charlotte, North Carolina, God showed me my need for a savior. That night a man named Mickey Connolly spoke on the doctrine of hell. The message scared me. I started thinking of all the stuff I had done wrong and all the sins I had committed against this holy, just God. After the message we broke into discussion groups and I started to cry because of all the things I had done and the punishment that I owned. Then, two of my best friends: Casey Holbrook and Matthew Bowman started to pray with me and that night I gave my life to the Lord. You see, I knew the truth. I knew that God had sent His only Son to die on the Cross for all my sins. That he took the punishment that I deserved and gave me eternal life. I knew all that, but my pride was keeping me from admitting that I needed a savior.
The Lord has been so good to me to give me friends like Casey and Matt to bring me to Him. The Lord has brought me all the way to where I am now, and he will keep me to the end.
Well, that's a little about me and my experience. Don't worry, the blog probably won't be this serious all the time. I just wanted to let everyone know how God has changed my life.

see ya,
Matthew

Hey Everybody

2005-09-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

Hey,
This is my first ever blog. My good friend Jonathan inspired me to write a blog with his own blog. So here it is.
I'm Matthew Reynolds. I'm a freshman at Pellisippi State Technical Community College (PSTCC). I'm a part of a campus ministry called Volunteers for Christ. I help out there a bunch and am really exited about what God is doing through this ministry. Through this blog, I hope to give some of you out there a glimse of what it's like being a college freshman and a glimse of what God is doing through VFC.
VFC is a outreach of Cornerstone Church. Cornerstone is the coolest church ever! I know because I've been going to Cornerstone since 1991 (when I was 4). I've seen God work in countless ways in and through this local church.
Well, thats about all the time I have now, but visit more often as I try to keep this up.
Next time I'll try to let everyone know a little about myself and stuff like that.

Have a wonderful, grace-filled day,
Matthew