October 22, 2013

"When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves. "But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" They said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  Matthew 14:15-17

Let's see, here we have thousands of hungry people and just one simple lunch. That's a problem! How do you do the math on that?

Well, when you have Jesus it helps balance the equation: 1 lad + 1 lunch + 1 Lord = leftovers!

No wonder the feeding of the 5,000 is one of the most popular and well-known miracles of the Bible!

This miracle illustrates an important truth that binds all the Biblical miracles together - every miracle came in response to a need! Search the Old Testament and the New Testament and try to find a miracle that did not happen because there was a God-sized need to be met. 

In 2013 America, we don't like having unmet needs. Most don't need to be needy. Some believe they are entitled to have their needs met. I don't enjoy being in need and I doubt if you do.

But, let's think about this. Miracles arise in response to needs and we don't like to be needy. So do you think there could be a possible connection between our aversion to needs and the rare occurrence of miracles?

While I am sure the answer to the question of miracles is more complicated than just a reluctance to admit you have a need or your unwillingness to suffer need, I am sure it is part of the reason.

A multitude to feed, a dead brother to raise, a sea that stands in the way, a man who is lame, a man who is blind and millions in a dessert needing food and water, were all desperate needs that were met by a miraculous provision from God.

Every person I know would love to receive a miracle. But not every one of them is willing to bear suffering or neediness.

If needs give rise to miracles, and if you don't want to be in need, guess what you will likely not receive?

Perhaps you need to spend some quiet with God and give this some prayerful consideration.

October 21, 2013

"Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.  Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping."  Matthew 8:23-24 

It is good to be in the same boat with Jesus. You would like to think that if you are in the boat with Jesus you would have smooth sailing. But this story proves that having Jesus in the boat does not exempt you from storms, contrary to what some might claim.

Why would anyone think that being in the boat with Jesus should exempt you from the storms? Is He a lucky charm? Is He a season pass from suffering? Do we get pulled out of the real world? What are your expectations when you share the boat with Jesus? What should they be?

Let's talk about the expectation thing this morning. I think it is crucial and I also think it is one of the central truths of this story. We try to fit Jesus into our expectations. A few storms can knock that out of us.

We should expect Jesus to be exactly Who He is - the Son of God! It is up to us to discover all that means.

Jesus had spent the day trying to reveal to the disciples Who He is and what they should expect from Him. Go back and start at the beginning of Matthew 8 to set the context for this story.

He healed a leper, and then He was pleasantly surprised by the faith demonstrated by a Roman officer - so much so that He made a point of it to His disciples in case they had missed it. And, to honor that Roman's faith, He did a long-distance healing. Later, He healed Peter's mother-in-law and spent the evening casting out demons.

Not bad for one day in the life of Jesus!

Based on that brief glimpse, what should we expect when He gets in our boat?

Expect Him to be powerful! He had power over disease and over demons!

Expect Him to be Scriptural! He used His power to fulfill the prophecies and promises of Scripture! If you want to know Him, know them!

Expect Him to be purposeful! After Jesus had healed and delivered and ministered, He called those who would follow Him to put Him first. A Christ-follower must be willing to forsake all to come after Him.

Expect Him to be personal! Jesus spoke to large crowds and was followed by multitudes and ultimately died for everyone, but He deals with people individually - personally. He knows your name! He knows your need!

As you meditate on these thoughts, let me ask you two more questions, "How many of your fears are rooted in wrong expectations of Jesus?" And, "What would happen to your level of fear if you came to a better understanding of what to expect from Him?"

Could we be onto something here?

October 20, 2013

"Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm."  Matthew 8:26

Jesus asked a very probing question, "Why are you afraid?"

He didn't wait for them to answer, He gave them a pointed answer, "You have so little faith."

That had to be hard to hear, but who's going to question Jesus? No one responded, "We have great faith!"

They knew He was right!

Have you ever heard Jesus whisper that to you? I'm sure you have questioned your own faith from time to time. And I guarantee that the devil has often accused you about your lack of faith.

They probably understood the point He was trying to make, but they were notoriously slow learners.

So, just in case - - what WAS He saying to them?

First of all, I believe He rebuked them because they called on Him out of fear rather than out of faith. You really could paraphrase this sentence, "Oh, you of great fear!" and not change the gist of the question. If you haven't noticed by now you soon will, this study is about faith as much as it is about fear.

Second, I think He confronted them for allowing the 18" gap between their heads and their hearts. We have that, too, don't we? The difference between faith and fear is the difference between what we know about Jesus and how we apply it to life situations. In the past 24 hours these guys had seen Jesus healing people and casting out demons. They knew He had power and authority from God, but when they were faced with this storm, they forgot Who He was. You could rephrase His statement like this, "Don't you remember Who I am, you fearful ones?"

And, I believe that He was disappointed that they had focused on the storm instead of the Son of God. They became fixated on the problem rather than His power. He was a second thought to them when He should have been a first response. In their boat lay the Creator of the universe and they got spooked by a storm. Their fearful focus relgated Jesus to an unused resource. 

It is a lot easier to recognize this "lack of faith" in the life of others, isn't it? Those disciples, what were they thinking?

But let me ask you, "If Jesus stood before you right now would He commend your faith or would He confront your fear?" 

Like the disciples, you can't have great fear and great faith at the same time. And like them, you may be just 18" away from having greater faith. What do you need to do today to move what you believe about Jesus in your head to how you respond with your heart?

Oh, by the way, Jesus calmed the storm anyway.

October 19, 2013

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”  Revelation 12:11

This short verse is long on important truth. It gives three ways to overcome the Enemy in your daily living.

The Cross of Christ - “by the blood of the Lamb”

While It is hard to fully understand the scope and significance of the Cross of Christ, there are several significant truths that we CAN get our minds around.

-          It provides forgiveness for sins

-          It promotes fellowship with God

-          It purchased freedom in Christ

-          It promises a forever future

Praise God for the power of the Cross!

Second, there is The Confession of Christ – “by the word of their testimony”

I believe Christians don’t understand the power of their testimony. Briefly, here are three reasons why your testimony overcomes the Enemy:

-          It is a testament to the power of God

-          It is a test of my performance (how is my life impacting others)

-          It taunts the Enemy for his predicament

Finally, there is The Commitment to Christ – “they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

When you embrace the power and the purpose of the Cross it will transform your life. As you serve God daily through your life and your lips it will translate into a testimony. You could say that a testimony is the result of your faith being tested against life. As that happens you will discover that faith wins! But you will also discover the Enemy will fight back. When you have a powerful testimony you will make some people happy and other people very angry. You will encounter opposition and some persecution. It will require commitment to be faithful to Christ in an ungodly world. You will need to have the some sort of commitment Jesus had!

Christ-commitment means you have no “plan B”.

If your Christianity is worth living by isn’t it worth dying for?

Do you need more spiritual power in your life?

Cling to the Cross!

Confess Christ with your life and your lips!

Commit to following Him with no plan B!

October 18, 2013

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night,  has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." Revelation 12:10-11

Just in case I haven't convinced you of the power of a personal testimony like yours or like mine, here are two more women touched by the testimony of Rhonda Baker:

"A few words about my Women's Pastor Rhonda Baker: A huge hole was made in my heart when I was a child, due to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse I endured from my parents. I started self medicating with drugs about 13 yrs old. I'm 53 and at 43 I finally was able to get off drugs. I thought life would get better, men work, kids, nothing filled the hole in my heart. The first of this year I walked into central, in a full blown depressive black mood, whatever happened that day was my last resort. I had to look like a real mess tear stained face shaking mumbling the words,"i need help" A wonderful women grabbed my hand and said "lets get you to Rhonda" It was Thursday women's conference day so I was handed off to three more wonderful women with a warm hand and a hug and the words"get her to Rhonda" Central is a huge church with lots of hallways.and lots of women were there that day, but we turned a corner and I saw something truly special in a tall slender blonde women, and I knew this was Rhonda. She took my hand led me to her office, I'm not sure what blurted out of my sobbing mouth, but when she started to talk I knew that The Almighty God , His Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Spirit, were using Her to guide me and teach me that my heart will be filled, that I'm no longer out in the dark alone and cold. Through Rhonda, that day My Savior brought me home. I listen to every piece of advice Rhonda gives me, and it always works. I'm in C R, I go to the 12 step program, the women's conference, I volunteer on Saturdays with the homeless and of course church on Sundays. I see her around and I kno shes one of the busiest people on this planet but if she sees me, its always a warm hello, and she stops the world for a minute, and asks how I am. Rhonda Baker You ask? Yes I know her, through God she saved my life. sincerely, and with many many blessing to you all,"  Lori York

"My name is Tracy and my husband's name is Darryl. We live in Las Vegas and we were on the verge of divorce 5 years ago because he had an affair and we were far from God and were living the Vegas life style of growing marijuana for a living in our house with our children that were two and one years old. The friends we had were all strippers and their husbands were criminals. I was applying to be a waitress at the strip club but God shut that door and protected me by not getting a call back to be hired. I found pornography at home and had enough of this life so I went to Central Christian Church to Celebrate Recovery and God restored our marriage and we stopped everything and started a new life with new christian friends, we got sober and jumped right into ministry. I applied to be Rhonda Baker's intern and this time I got a call back because God had other plans for my life. She mentored me and taught me everything, what it is to be a godly woman, wife, mother, and friend. She taught me what real love is. She believed in me and taught me how to be a disciple for Jesus. She fanned into flame that spark in me to spread the good news. After two years of interning with her she told me I'm ready to go out there and lead but I didn't want to leave her safe umbrella. Every time I doubted myself and didn't believe I was good enough, she uplifted me, encouraged me and reminded me of God's calling on my life for such a time as this. Me and my husband are now in ministry, he teaches jr high and high school and we are launching a brand new ministry of Celebrate Recovery at the satellite campus in the Southwest Las Vegas. I am now mentoring women and showing them everything Rhonda taught me on how to fully submit to God and get off the fence of being half in the world. I am forever grateful for Rhonda Baker!"


Okay, so let's review. Randy Baker's testimony and my testimony and the witness of a small Wesleyan Church convinced Rhonda to give her heart to Jesus. After Rhonda walked with the Lord for a number of years (while she was developing her testimony) God called her into ministry. Now Rhonda serves in women's ministry at a mega-church in Las Vegas, Nevada.


You have just seen two examples of the impact of her testimony.


It makes me wonder who is waiting to hear your testimony.

October 17, 2013

"They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."  Rev. 12:11

This verse testifies to the power of testimonies of believers. I believe many Christians aren't aware of the influence their testimony can wield.

In the previous post I briefly shared my testimony and how it impacted the lives of David and Bev Marine. Here is another testimony from a lady named Rhonda Baker:

I didn't grow up in a Christian home and was pretty much known as what people refer to as a CEO (attending church on Christmas/Easter only). My parents divorced when I was a little girl which left me devastated and very insecure. There were times I was scared to go to school and missed the bus on purpose in fear of my mom not being home when I returned. I felt abandoned when my dad moved out of our home and I feared my mom would leave as well. Although my mom remarried and I grew up in a blended family of eight children, we had everything we needed just not everything we wanted. My stepfather was very good to me although he didn't have the freedom to really love me or discipline me as one of his own children. I began to seek love outside our family structure and eventually experienced what I thought was love at the young age of 17 with an alcoholic. When I graduated from high school, I went to work for a corporation where I met a guy a few years older than me who was really different. He was very kind and respectful toward me and we developed a friendship. Eventually he invited me to attend a church with him where he was singing in a quartet. It was the very first time I had ever heard the Word of God in an inspirational way. I was so intrigued by the way he lived his life, I broke off and engagement with my alcoholic fiancé. Randy and I then began dating but I didn't really understand why he lived his life the way he did. When I found out he loved God, I pretended to know what he was talking about and pretended to be a believer because of how much I liked him. Hey, don't judge me – he was nice AND good looking! I broke up with him as well because again, I didn't understand his lifestyle even though I had fallen in love with him. I was brokenhearted and eventually I walked into the Wesleyan Church he had spoke of so very often with a pastor who had a strong gift of evangelism (I.e., Brad Snyder). I was curious and once I was there the love of the people just drew me in. I wanted the kind of life they had. I finally asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and my life has never been the same since.




Fast forward . . . I was never able to attend college right out of high school and always felt "less than" because of it. I had a strong sense of calling to vocational ministry but didn't pursue it for many years because of the many years of education it would require. I will never forget the day I could no longer deny this calling on my life. Our firstborn son was stillborn and although it was several years later, the Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart, "Rhonda, do you remember when you held your stillborn son and there was no life or breathe in him? That's what it's like when I look at you! I created you for a purpose and you are living your life as if you are stillborn in your faith! You are not being obedient to the life I have called you to. You are lifeless in your faith!" Wow! At about the same time my pastor came to me and said, "Don't you think it's time you did what God has called you to do?" He said, "Sometimes God opens doors to us that we could never open ourselves. Why don't you talk to the seminary and see what kind of training you can receive? I interviewed and applied with them and God opened a door for me to receive a Master's of Divinity degree without a Bachelor's Degree. I don't tell you this information to boast of myself but to boast of what God is capable of doing in a life that is ready and willing to be obedient to God. I now serve in a church of over 17,000 people in what people refer to as "sin-city" as a Women's Pastor. I never thought I'd ever step inside a strip club, but I do so to befriend other women the way I was befriended from someone who just accepted me where I was and showed me through their friendship what Jesus is like (Jesus, the friend of sinners). I have also recently helped found and now serve on the board of a new non-profit ministry for women in and transitioning out of the sex industry. It's been quite a journey, but I'm so very thankful for everyone who took the time to show me Jesus' love. Had it not been for their examples, I would never have experienced having a front row seat of seeing so many women's lives being transformed. I am truly honored to experience a taste of heaven here on this earth and yes, even in Las Vegas. I am always, always, always amazed at the power of God's love and the impact it can have on individual lives for the Kingdom of God! I heard a pastor say one time, "one life touches a life, which touches a life, which touches a life, which touches a life, and the ripple continues on. How beautiful are the ripples of God's love through friendship.

Oh, and by the way, I began to pray those many years ago for God to bring that Godly man back into my life that I broke up with. We have now been married over 32 years and the guy who is telling my story . . . Well, he was the pastor of that little Wesleyan Church in Princeton, IL I was saved in and he's the one who married us.

Thank you very much for allowing me to share just a little piece of my life. May God use my story to inspire others to live out their calling in the body of Christ.



Thanks, Rhonda for sharing your testimony with us!



I love life change!



Don't you?

October 16, 2013

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."  Revelation 12:10-11

One of the reasons the testimonies of the saints above were so powerful is because they arose from a period of severe testing. When they were faced with persecution they stood faithful to their faith in the face of suffering and death.

Personal testimonies always tell a story of life-change or faithfulness or courage in times of testing. They have power because they offer living proof of the power of God.

I went forward during the invitation at the end of a Sunday evening service in a tiny Bible Church in Bourbon, Indiana. I was only seven years old but I remember the pastor struggling with how to share the gospel with a seven-year old. Then, almost as if inspired, he began to tell the story of Noah and the Ark and explained that being saved is like coming into the Ark. I affirmed that was what I wanted to do and he led me in the salvation prayer. I became a Christian that night 56 years ago.

At the age of 10, my family and I were invited to attend a Wesleyan Church in the nearby town. We went the Sunday following our invitation and we never stop going. Silver Lake Wesleyan Church became our church home. Through that church I was introduced to Summer camp and a group of young people from all over Northern Indiana. Some of those people became life-long friends of mine.

My association and friendship with those young people and my church family were instrumental in helping me grow in my walk with God. One evening during Youth Camp service, I went forward at the end of a service and surrendered my life completely to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Shortly after that experience I began to sense a calling from God to pastoral ministry.

Although I resisted that calling for several years. I finally surrendered to His call for my life and applied to Indiana Wesleyan University. I am the first person from my family to go to college. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to financially afford college.

My four years at IWU were formative years for a number of reasons. I developed personally, spiritually, socially, intellectually and in leadership. Surrounded by amazing people of God, my passion for God and for ministry was shaped by my days at Indiana Wesleyan.

Right out of college, I received a call to become the pastor at Princeton Wesleyan Church in Princeton, Illinois. With great excitement and trepidation I headed west to the prairie of North Central Illinois. God had favor on me and those good people were very gracious and patient with me and that tiny church began to grow. Involved in that growth was a couple named Dave and Bev Marine. Here is his story:

In 1974 I decided living together with my wife was wrong. I chose the Wesleyan  Church on Pleasant Street to ask the Pastor if he would marry us,as I was familiar with Pastor Olander, and my Uncle Glen had preached there. Pastor Olander was no longer there,but a new Pastor named Brad Snyder was the new Pastor. We met, and we immediately hit it off. We had many similar likes,and sports was one of the biggest things we liked. I didn't know it, but I was about to find another thing we would have in common...the love of Jesus Christ. Brad invited me to a pick up basket ball game, and he played for a for a long time, and PB started witnessing about the Lord to me. I found all kind of reasons not to commit, but in the end, PB wore me down, and I have been thankful every since!

Bev and I went up to the alter and gave our lives to the Lord. I wish I could say from that point on that every thing went well, but we had problems, and back slid for a bit, but we always came back to the Lord, as his mercy is always there for us.

I can say that at the present time my faith has grown to it's highest level,as we have had a serious life event that has caused me to dig very deep to survive the effects that has rocked my life, as my love mate has had a debilitating stroke.With out God and answered prayers, I would have crumbled, but God's strength is sufficient and I have been able to cope with my situation. Praise be to God!

Am I perfect as a Christian? No way, but I continue to strive, and I am convicted by the Holy Spirit to improve my obedience to God's will. Every day I thank the Lord for his grace and for all the blessings he has bestowed on our family. He is truly a great God!

Testimonies are powerful and become more powerful when my testimony of life-change changes the life of another!

Because of the impact of two tiny churches in Indiana on my life, I had a testimony that was able to impact David and Bev in a small church in Illinois!

Now their testimony has touched you!

Never underestimate the power of your testimony!