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    The Making of a Miracle, Part 2


    2010 - 10.22

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    Posted in Miracles, Real Thoughts | 2 Comments »

    As I continue my thoughts about the miraculous I am struck by the number of people that I have spoken to this week that are in need of a HUGE miracle. Not just the run of the mill, “catching all the green lights as I am late to work”, kind of miracle, but a miracle where the supernatural invades the natural; those times where God’s will intersects with our need. We are living at a time where success is being redefined and more and more people are experiencing prolonged periods of joblessness or a reduction of pay. These prolong struggles can really do a number on peoples psyche and erode faith and self-esteem. This brings me to part 2 of The Making of a Miracle:

    #2 The moment of the miraculous occurs in the way God wants.

    As the Creator, it is God who has the right to do the things in the way He wants. This is important to understand, because in these times of prolonged struggles, it is easy to spend our time thinking about all the ways to get ourselves out of the bad situations of life. The stresses begin to push against us, mixing with the weight of the people that are depending on us, often causing the normally level-headed person to do some erratic things. I have seen people take jobs that they had no business taking or see a morally “gray” issue as “white” because it would help keep the power on in their home. Here in Las Vegas we have a slot machine called Megabucks which often has a jackpot in the tens of millions of dollars. I have, at times, played Megabucks and prayed, “Dear Lord please bless me with winning this jackpot. I will tithe the winnings and give money away. I’ll even buy my parents a nice vacation house.” Other times I have wished that I had a “long lost” relative that had amassed a huge fortune and after a long life, they pass away. In their generosity, they would leave some money to me. That would be awesome! Needless to say those prayers and similar outlandish prayers have yet to be answered. If God does ever decide to bless me in this way, I will be open to it, but until then it has been a lesson in the miraculous. What I have found is God works in the way He pleases. It is not my manipulation of Him or my creative thinking that will cause God to do something.

    I see 2 major erroneous thoughts in a prolonged time of trouble. First, we get so creative in problem solving that we eliminate any chance for the Creator to be creative. We think about all of the “what-ifs” and begin to implement our escape plans without ever consulting our Maker. “Maybe I should get a new job.” “Maybe if I move cities life will be better.” “Maybe I should take this strange root from a strange tree in Africa to heal me.” If these “maybes” don’t work, we jump to the next great idea all the while leaving a wake behind us of broken dreams. Often we are just digging our hole deeper and deeper. Secondly, we can become so passive that we miss the moment of the miraculous and settle for the usual. We say things like “If God wants me out of this situation, He’ll do it.” If He never get’s us out of the struggle, in the way we think He should, we begin to blame God or others for the problems in which we continue to live. Both of these erroneous thoughts are wrong because it puts the focus on the wrong thing. Both are self focused. In the first, we clearly are the ones trying to force something into working. If it works great we may give God glory, but let’s be honest, IT’S ALL ABOUT US. We made it happen. We were creative and we got ourselves out. In the second thought, we are the judge of whether God actually is moving and working on our behalf. If He doesn’t act in just the right way or do it in a big enough way then it wasn’t Him moving at all. We want to see clouds parting and audible voices heard by all. This can be horribly paralyzing and let’s be honest, IT’S STILL ALL ABOUT US.

    So what should we do? The prophet Isaiah says…

    “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Is 55:8-9 (NIV)

    We have to learn to trust that God is thinking about us and knows what is happening in our life. Jeremiah says this,

    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer 29:11 (NIV)

    We have a choice. Do it with God in His way or go at life alone in our way. Our loving God is waiting for us to let Him do what He does best… Work a miracle. We serve a miracle-working God and He is just waiting for us to give up and ask Him what He wants us to do. I guarantee that if we will spend more time listening than talking then God’s voice becomes a lot more clear. He wants to prosper us. He wants us to trust in Him. Your miracle may not be packaged the way you were expecting. It may not come through the means you had hoped. It may not even come as quickly as you would have liked it. But one thing is for sure, if you do your part and seek God, then He will do His part and cause the miraculous to take place in your life.

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    Going Extreme


    2010 - 07.02

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    Posted in Real Thoughts | 2 Comments »

    Last week in our studying of the book of Acts at Valley Christian Center, something hit me like a ton of bricks (and it was more then just the amazing power of the Holy Spirit). As we began our study, we ran right into Acts 2 and the Day of Pentecost. It is an amazing account of the first Holy Spirit Baptism. Those that were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost experienced something EXTREME and it forever changed them. This was not the first time we have studied this text, but what was new for me was the extent to which the release of the Holy Spirit set the foundation of the church for the future. This was an extreme transition time, that we as Christians get to look back on with the vividly descriptive words of Luke and see what God was doing. Because of the extreme transformation of these men, there were several qualities of the early Church that spread beyond just those in the upper room.

    When we look at Acts 4:31-37, we see qualities of the early Church that were the result of the people being filled with the Holy Spirit. First and foremost, there were those that were NOT in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost that were filled with the Holy Spirit. This gives us such great hope! You see, the power from the Holy Spirit, that they received after the day of Pentecost, we too can receive. This power of the Holy Spirit is the force and ability that will help us overcome the enemy in this earthly life. Other qualities that were possessed by the early church include the following: they were bold in their witness, they were in perfect unity, they were selfless in their attitude toward others, and great grace was upon them.

    However, the one quality that struck me the most was the Early Church was EXTREMELY generous with those in need. Now, I understand generosity and I think I am a generous person, but what does it mean to be EXTREMELY generous? Is it giving away our unwanted items to Goodwill so that they can sell them at a discount to someone less fortunate then us? (We all know that we really give to Goodwill for the tax write-off or so we don’t feel bad because there are kids in Africa going to bed naked if we don’t take care of our clothes.) Is it seeing a homeless man on the corner of the road and rummaging through our ash tray for loose change to give to him? Is it giving our left over McDonald’s to the beggar standing just outside the comfort of the air conditioning? While all of these might be good, they don’t seem very extreme to me. We have all done them. In fact we have done them so often, now there are people standing outside most MickyD’s and on almost every major street corner. What was once meant to be a gesture of generosity has now turned into a scam by the guy on the street corner (Note for all those still naive: not all street corner guys are truly “Hungry” or “willing to work for food”. Discernment can help you to know when and how to give to these people).

    So again I am forced to ask myself, “What does it mean to be EXTREMELY Generous?” Based on Acts 4:34-35, it involves effort and sacrifice along with knowing where the generosity should be directed. If I had to put it in a mathematical equation it would be, (e+s)G=X or Effort+Sacrifice(Guidance from the Holy Spirit)=eXtreme Generosity. It takes effort on our part to be willing to give up what is our excess, when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so. I am not saying we should all run right out and sell our houses and give the money to the poor, especially right now in this economy where most homes are under water. Nonetheless, to be extremely generous we must be open to however God directs our generosity. It is part of willful submission. One thing about this equation that the early church had figured out: You can’t have EXTREME generosity without the Holy Spirit. It is His generosity that is the source of our generosity. He is the connector between the giver and the receiver. Without the direction of the Holy Spirit you have charity not generosity. The Holy Spirit’s prompting usually involves a recipient for our generosity. It is not haphazard charity or unbridled giving, although charity and giving are good. Extreme generosity is instead focused through our relationship with the Creator of the universe. It is hearing His prompting that will get us to pay for the multiple people in line behind us at Starbucks. It is His prompting that will get us to buy a new computer for a student who can’t afford one, when we have been saving for months to get one ourself. It is His prompting that will have you recover a friends broken pool table when you have no pool table of your own. It is His prompting that will have you looking for the next opportunity to give something you value away. Without fail if you are in unity with the Holy Spirit and looking for an opportunity to be EXTREMELY generous, He will lead you to someone who is in need of your EXTREME generosity. If we can understand and build our lives with this principle, we will be like the early church that saw their possessions as tools for kingdom expansion and therefore they were bold and powerful in their witness to the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. It is not about us gaining more things to keep. It is about us being the conduit for the supply train of Christ. Let’s develop a truly EXTREMELY GENEROUS state of mind.

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    A Post From My Pastor


    2010 - 02.17

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    Posted in Guest Authors | No Comments »

    From time to time, I will post blog entries from guest authors. They will range from inspirational to informative. But they will always be helpful and thought provoking. Here is the first of those guests. This is a post from my pastor, Pastor Dave Walker. He is the Lead Pastor at our church, Valley Christian Center…

    Last August, as I was preparing for 2010, God began to stir up in me a passion to see unbelievers place their trust in Christ.  God began to show me His heart for the people in the Las Vegas Valley–people who are driven by financial pressures, family problems, the stresses of every day life…and all that without the blessing and strength that comes from knowing Christ!

    As my heart was stirred with compassion for them, I began to think, “What if…” kinds of thoughts:

    • What if ALL of Valley Christian Center was stirred with Holy Spirit compassion for Las Vegas?
    • Since the task of reaching all of Las Vegas is so enormous, what if each of us just reached out to at least one person in 2010?
    • What if it became a habit? 50 the first year; 200 the next, 400 and so on?
    • What if we prayed, believed God, and invited people to come to church with us?

    Out of that was born “Each 1, Reach 1”: Our goal for 2010 is for everyone who calls Valley Christian Center their home church to lead one person to Christ before the end of the year.

    Here’s how we can turn “what if” questions into “We did it!” statements:

    • Ask God to give you real compassion for people:  not the kind that makes you shed a few tears, but the kind that makes you go out of your way to help someone.
    • Ask God to show you the one person in your world who is ready to jump at a chance to follow Christ.
    • Pray for that person every day; ask God to give you words and opportunity to speak to them.
    • Pray the discipling process all the way through:  accepting Christ, water baptized, attending church, Holy Spirit baptized, serving, and helping others

    Here’s what the Bible says:

    Salvation that comes from trusting in Christ–which is the message we preach–is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scripture says,

    “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”

    “For ‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

    “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:8, 13, 14 NLT)

    There is someone, in your world, who is right now on the verge of choosing to follow Christ!  You have been uniquely positioned, by God, to help them. Your part is “praying and saying”:  pray for them, and then tell them about Jesus.

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