We don’t always know what God will do with the gifts that we’ve given, but we trust that it’s so far and away beyond anything that we could ever imagine…
Category: Rev. Matt Ybanez
Hot Dogs on the Brain
One of the dreams that floated to the top of the pile as the Missions Team and I spent time visioning was tailgating. On the surface, it may be hard to see the value of tailgating, although with the food and fun involved, it’s not a hard sell. What is the value of tailgating? Relationships….
Seeing and Being Seen
Several weeks ago, I preached a sermon using some of the ideas from the book Stranger God by Richard Beck. Beck uses Matthew 25 to remind us that Jesus didn’t say we’d encounter him in our closest family and friends. He said we’d encounter him in strangers–when we feed the hungry, offer a drink to…
The Journey to Easter
“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”—Luke 9:51 I’m trying to imagine what Jesus might have been thinking as he “set his face” to go to Jerusalem. There’s never been a time in my life when I had to set my face to…
No Agenda
Sometimes I get an idea, and I can’t let it go, and it ends up with me doing things like requesting to be friends with everyone on Facebook who has the same name that I do. There are about 20 of us Matt/Matthew/Mateo Ybañeze’s on Facebook. It’s my own name and I still don’t know…
Books
There are two books on the bookshelves in my office that I’ve had longer than any others. One of them is the Life Application Study Bible that my mom bought for me to read and use at youth group. The other is The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. The corners and pages of this book are…
It’s Like Riding a Bike . . .
We’ve learned a new skill at my house. My daughters have learned to ride their bikes. First, it was my oldest who wanted to learn to ride a bike without training wheels, then once she learned, her younger sister wanted to do it too. What’s amusing to me is how each of my daughter’s personalities…
My Ever Changing Bio
In the midst of a career change from Youth Ministries to Missions and Evangelism here at the church, I find myself rewriting my bio on the church website. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, the new bio is up and the old one is gone . . . because as more and more time…
Sore
It all started well enough, but after what felt like three or four hours (actually 15 minutes) the woman on the megaphone said “great warm up! Now let’s get started.”
Sacred Family Time
At 5 and 7, my daughters know that I don’t have a “normal” job. Their mom goes to work in the morning and makes it home before dinner every Monday-Friday. For the most part, when she’s not at work, she really doesn’t have to do anything for work because at 5 p.m. the business ceases…
The Cabin
by Rev. Matt Ybañez There is a cabin in southeast Arkansas. You would never find it unless you were looking for it. The cabin is hidden in a maze of gravel logging roads. The closest paved road is about 20 or so minutes away and the closest town is called Warren, Arkansas (population 5,582). The…
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