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While walking down a hallway at the Convention, an especially lovely thing happened. A woman came up and asked if it would be okay to hug me. I had given a Bible to her granddaughter in February while preaching on the subject of prayer. The interaction meant a great deal to her granddaughter, and it meant a great deal to me, too. I related that many, many people at those services had asked me pray for them, but that her granddaughter was the only one who asked to pray for me. God, I love Gen Z! — I flew to Arkansas and preached two morning services at Heritage Church as well as a special service Sunday evening with both the Heritage and Butterfield Assembly churches. The subject was suicide. It is my impression that, for the most part, adults in churches would rather not hear or discuss what Scripture has to say about this topic. I don’t blame them. It is a dark subject. However, the CDC now reports that 57% of teen girls in America wake up every day in a persistently hopeless state. At the Sunday evening gathering, 60 teens from Heritage Church came and sat in the front rows. They wanted to know what the Bible has to say about what’s going on in their world. I repeat: God, I love Gen Z! They will sit respectfully and ask questions for hours if allowed. The line that tethers the Old Testament to the New has come to mean so much to me: “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:6, ESV) Unless my generation stops worrying about itself and starts caring for the next, I fear that the Lord’s warning will come to pass. It always does. So, I am particularly grateful to churches like these two that have the courage to take on difficult subjects that Gen Z is wrestling with. Lastly, I want to thank all those who have interviewed, filmed, and otherwise encouraged me over the last two months. My time with Kathryn Wolf on The Good Hard podcast was especially blessed. I also want to thank Carmen LeBerge for having me as a monthly guest over the last year on her Mornings with Carmen show (Faith Radio) as we discussed the Ten Pillars of the Christian Faith. I’m also looking forward to my upcoming interview on public radio with Tom Martin on his show, Eastern Standard, as well as a three-week series I’ll be preaching in Lexington at Centenary Church. My topics will be 1. The Work of Rest (what we need to do/get done before we rest), 2. Resting from Work (how we can delight in a God-focused day of rest each week), and 3. The Rest of Rest (how we can find rest in Christ and our salvation seven days a week). Each event I attend requires the coordination of flights, hotels, car rentals, meals, books, topics, radio shows, filming interviews, meetings with pastors, etc. Many trips require 50 to 100 emails, Zoom meetings, phone calls, texts, paying invoices, shipments, etc. In other words, Nancy, Jennie, and Jacqueline do untold amounts of work to “get me to the church in time.” Thank you, Lord, for allowing them to be in my life. And thank you to all of you who read these missives and write to us and support us. Thank you to the Board of Blessed Earth. And, today, thank you to Mike and Martha for lending us your house on the Maine harbor to rest and renew. All glory to God! Your brother in Christ, Matthew
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