mattmehaffey

I am not saying, I'm just saying

Last Sunday, December 16, I threw on my brand new Miami Dolphins jersey as I preached at The Pursuit's first preview service. It's a throwback Marino jersey. At that moment the 'Fins were 0-13 and staring at the fate of being the first NFL team in history to go 0-16.

Later that day, they won their first game of the season against the Ravens. They also just hired Bill Parcells to a 4-year deal to be their VP of Football Operations.

Mr. Huizenga, when you write your check out to me, "Mehaffey" is spelled with two "F's." You are welcome.

Don't believe? You can listen to the message here.

New Blogger!

Bob and Linda Smith are blogging. You can check them out at www.bobgsmith.com. You are going to want to follow their story. Anyone that knows them can tell you they have great stories and many more are yet to be written.

The Best Job Ever

I know there are a million people in the world today who get up every day and go to a job they hate. I can't even imagine doing that. Not only do I believe God has called me to do what I do, I can think of nothing I would rather do. God has designed each and everyone of us. He has designed you uniquely for a specific role (Ephesians 2:10) and when you dive in deep to that role you come alive!

Getting the opportunity to preach every week is one I am psyched about. And to do it at The Pursuit Christian Church is even better.

I love the whole process. The process begins in the middle of my relationship with God. If the relationship is lacking, the messages are weak. But when the relationship is growing deeper, God puts an idea in my heart that becomes heavy. So heavy it has to come out. It has to be what Jeremiah was feeling when he said, "If I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

The next and longest step is about 25-30 hours of research, organization and writing. Prayer overarches this entire time span. I love getting out of the house and going to places that spark creativity. Right now I am in Louisville, KY, at a mom and pop coffee shop called The Pie Pantry.
A couple weeks ago I was in Boston and did some writing at Faneuil Hall. That was cool. I couldn't help but think of all the great speeches given by patriots to urge the colonists to stand against England.

When it's time to deliver the message my stomach is in knots. It's not nerves. I had a professor who said, "The moment you don't get nervous before preaching, hang it up." My knots aren't attributed to nerves that a person gets before a public speaking engagement. My fear is I will get in the way of the message God has given me. We've all seen personalities preach live or on television who love the spotlight and the message gets lost behind their giant-sized ego. I keep in mind the warning James gives. That's enough to keep that knot there for the rest of my life! Besides, I have absolutely nothing to offer anyone but Jesus and that's more than enough.

I love my job. I get to tell others about Jesus and invite them to come and see for themselves.

The Pursuit Staff

There is so much to say about the team God has pulled together to form the staff of The Pursuit Christian Church.

1. We love God more than anything.
2. We are loyal to one another.
3. We challenge each other.
4. We have fun together.
5. We work very hard.
6. We invest in other people.
7. We encourage each other.
8. We know what God is doing is far bigger than us.

Last night, we all went out to dinner at The Melting Pot in Cooper City for our staff Christmas party. I am starting to see a very cool pattern developing. Whenever we go out to eat with this group the person(s) who serves us is going to hear about the church and invited to join us. Love it.

Last night we looked to back to what we were all doing one year ago. It's amazing how much God has done in a very short time. It will be interesting what He will do next year.

Winter has Arrived

The last two mornings have had temperatures in the low 50's. That's the coldest it is has been by far since we moved to South Florida in July. I am still wearing shorts, but I seem to be the odd one (that may not be news to you). I saw a woman walking her dog in a North Face fleece, scarf, gloves and knit hat.

Later, I was talking to a van full of men who work for the city and they were sitting inside with the vehicle's heater cranking. They couldn't comprehend how I was wearing shorts.

Janie and I are traveling back to the midwest later this week and we'll get our fair share of cold. Yes, I'll be leaving my shorts at home.

Frosty the Gangsta

Our church, The Pursuit Christian Church, helped sponsor a community event called Snowfest this past Saturday in Pembroke Pines. It was a great event. Every year the city brings in machines to manufacture a mound of snow for kids to play on and it's always a huge hit. I would estimate around 4,000 people came to Snowfest.

The Pursuit had a major presence there with our signage and booth. Frosty the Snowman, a.k.a. Eric Hafner (member of the church), drew a steady stream of kids to our booth for their chance to get their picture taken with him. It was 82 degrees all afternoon, I can't imagine how uncomfortable he must have been. We took their photo, framed it and gave it to them as a gift from us. Here's what the finished product looked like.

Boston - Day Two

Today has been very surreal for me. I've been in meetings most of the day as part of the NewThing Network. I look around the room and I can't help but ask the question, "How did I get here." The Pursuit Christian Church hasn't even launched yet and I get the privilege of networking with a group of leaders I have tons of respect for. They stretch me as a leader even more as a Christ follower. The thing that impresses me the most with this network is how "ego-free" everything is.

Sorry to Richa and Troy for not taking a step back to get them in the picture, but Troy managed to get his arm in.

The churches and leaders present are:
Community Christian Church
Dave Ferguson
Jon Ferguson
Tim Sutherland
Brian Zehr
Aaron Monts - planting a church in San Francisco in 2009

New Life Christian Church
Todd Wilson

2|42 Community Church
Dave Dummitt

Church! At Bethany
Matt Payne

Crossings Christian Church
Mark Nelson

Forefront Christian Church
Brian Moll

Jacob's Well Community Church
Dave Richa

Reunion Christian Church
Hank Wilson

Suncrest Christian Church
Greg Lee

Restore Christian Church
Troy McMahon

Boston - Day One 2.0

My flight was a great experience. I have been re-reading 1776 by David McCullough, a Pulitzer Prize winning book about America's breakaway from England. As we flew over the Atlantic coming into Boston, I had an incredible view of the setting many of the events in the book took place. Tomorrow I finally get to experience The Freedom Trail.

As much as I despise the sports teams (except the Celtics since I grew up liking Larry Bird), the city of Boston is amazing. I love the public transit system. It was very easy to get to Hotel Commonwealth. While I was on the Subway, at one of the stops a bunch of college-aged men and women came in with Bibles. Then I realized they were coming from a church service.

Speaking of Boston teams I despise, check out the view from my hotel room. Fenway is even closer than my iPhone camera could show. I love to hate the Red Sox but Fenway is hands down the best stadium I have ever seen.

So far this has been a really good trip and to top it all off I walked into my room just in time for the Colts kickoff. Now they have to win and wrap up the AFC South Division.

Boston - Day One

Well, my trip to Boston is already different than any other I have ever taken.

1) I am packing to go from warm weather to freezing weather. I am hauling around my massive North Face parka which is not fun but will be worth it when I am in Boston.

2) When I arrived at the gate the attendant told me I had been moved from 30D to 2A, which is in first class. So this is how the other 2% fly. It's not that great . . . uh yeah it is!