4 steps on the journey toward your miracle

The other day my nine year old daughter and I were traveling to a Wednesday night service at my home church. I don’t schedule a lot of speaking out on Wednesday’s because it allows me to be a part of a church community and be a part of something as a family. My wife was already at church because she is one of the children’s teachers so it was just my daughter and I with some time to talk.

As someone who has embraced the nerd within you may be able to guess what my daughter and I were talking about in the car. Time travel. We were discussing where we would like to travel back in time to if we could choose. Of course, we discussed the importance of having some sort of cloaking devise in order to not mess with the space time continuum.

I made the suggestion that it would have been fun to see some of the miracles of Jesus. Seeing Peter walk on water or raise someone from the dead would be pretty amazing. But from there I turned the conversation and shared about how I had heard stories in my lifetime of people who had walked on water. I shared of people being raised from the dead. The next day in the car my wife and I continued the conversation with our daughter by sharing stories of miracles that God had done in our life and ministry.

She was blown away. She was shocked as she heard the stories. It struck me that we are always one generation away from having a church that has never heard stories of miracles or experienced them for themselves. Are you looking for the miracles of Jesus in your life?

We are one generation away from a church who has not experienced miracles for themselves

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If we are to be a generation that experiences the miracles of Jesus today we need to set the stage for Him to work. I think of the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5 and see some things that help set the stage for a miracle. I am not going to dissect the story but just point out some aspects to start you on your journey.

It wasn’t about what she said–

She didn’t say anything to Jesus before her miracle. We make too much about our super Christian prayer when this lady didn’t say a word. It was about her reaching out to Jesus in faith. Anyone can do that. She didn’t let her 12 year problem define who she was in the moment. I watched a video of T.D. Jakes speaking about this lady and he said, “Sometimes the problem so envelopes your life that it swallows up your identity.”

2. She was looking for a before and after moment.

What are you asking God for that could change in a moment? It is too easy to be satisfied with the normal that doesn’t push us into desperation for God. I need to move from it would be nice to have a miracle to I am really looking for a miracle. Expectation in life is important.

3. Her focus was on Jesus

Her faith wasn’t in herself but what she had heard about Jesus. When she looked to Jesus not only did she receive a miracle but He spoke words of life over her. He spoke to her as daughter. He spoke about her peace. What words of life would Jesus speak over us if we put more focus on Him?

4. She had to push through the crowd

How bad do you really want to be close to God? How much are you willing to push through? There were a lot of people in the crowd, but she got her healing. I must be willing to go after God even if it is difficult or inconvenient.

I know this doesn’t tackle all of the issues involved in miracles, but it is a place to start. Let’s pursue Jesus with the faith we have even if it is difficult and see what He will do!

4 Ways To Find Calm When You Feel Out Of Control (Updated)

Sometimes life feels out of control. You get blindsided by some news at work. A car breaks down at the worse time possible. How do you find calm in the midst of these circumstances? Here are a few thoughts I hope will help.

Understand the power of seasons.

Where I live we understand that seasons change. It is a predictable as the calendar moving ahead. It is also helpful for me, in out of control situations, to zoom back and look broader at the season that I am facing. Maybe what I am feeling is just a season of life that doesn’t last forever. Maybe the season is changing and this circumstance is just a sign of that season change.

2. Understand the power of appreciating time.

My thoughts have gone a lot lately to how short life really is for us. I talk to older people and they speak of how quickly life travels. The Bible refers to our lives being like grass which is here today and gone tomorrow. This can feel like a bad thing sometimes, but it also helps us put in perspective the situations we are facing right now. As tough as it is right now it is only temporary. The youth camp director at the camp I went to as a kid used to say, “You can do anything for a week.” Life is longer than a week but the lesson is the same.

3. Understanding the power of rest.

This may seem like a weird thing to write about when talking about feeling out of control, but hear me out. When I feel out of control I often want to push with the things within my control. This is helpful as it helps me get perspective on what I can and cannot control. While that is good in part I need to balance that with still honoring the calls to rest and Sabbath that God asks of us. For me it cannot always be, “One more phone call” or “Just a little more writing.” In times when it feels out of control honoring the rest anyways reminds me that ultimately God is in control. “Unless the Lord builds the house the laborers build in vain.” (Ps 127:1)

4. Take time to focus on Jesus.

Remember Peter walking on water. The storm of life got to him when he took his eyes off of Jesus. In the storms of life I like to picture the throne room of heaven. God is not sitting there wringing His hands in concern. God is not worried. God does not feel out of control. To take the idea a bit further, it is like finding a star or other fixed point when we are lost. The immovable object becomes the source of our confidence.

What things do you do when you feel out of control?

Confession Time: Missing Moments Along The Way (Updated)

I have a confession to make. I have messed this up often when I was a senior pastor and still slip up today. Where is this area of weakness? I often forget to enjoy the moment. The vision that God has given me burns deep within me and I am very achievement oriented. This is a strength of mine, but our strengths are many times the place where we are vulnerable as well. By seeing clearly the direction I am headed, and having the ability to quickly slip into task mode it is easy to forget to celebrate the victories of today.

When I was a local pastor this struggle was even worse. As the team lay exhausted on the ground after a great event where victories had been won, I was already charging up the next hill. Rather than enjoying the opportunities that the size of our church had at that moment, the vision of the future pushed me on while missing golden opportunities.

I was reminded of this when I had breakfast with Al Jones pastor of New Life Assembly of God in Cokato, MN. This is a growing church of about 100 in size. He shared with enthusiasm how once a month the church would have a fellowship meal (read potluck). They would eat together and spend time together for hours. He shared how they were capitalizing on the fact that they were still small enough to do this and it was a tool for discipleship and deep ministry. Since they were small enough they could just sit around on a Sunday afternoon and ministry could happen. Way to capture and enjoy the moment Al! Rather than just build the next small group program they were enjoying each other’s company and the church was going larger and deeper in the process.

This was a great reminder that although we are to pursue with passion the calling God has given us we must never forget to celebrate, capitalize and mine the opportunities of the moment that God has given us as well. This is true not only for ministry leaders but for life in general.

We must celebrate, capitalize and mine the opportunities of the moment that God has given us

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When we are little kids we can’t wait till we get to go to school. When we start school we are anxious to get our license and get into high school. In high school we are tempted to dream about heading off to college. While in college we dream of leaving college and starting our “lives”. And the story goes on till we hear senior citizens talking about how much they missed in life.

Yes, continue to grow. Build your business. Lay down your life to see the kingdom of God expanded in the world. Let’s finish the Great Commission in our lifetime. Let’s see countries excited to pray. But as serve God with passion let us celebrate where we are along the way. Thanks for listening to my confession!