Strength too Small

Proverbs 24:10 (NLT) If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.

This particular verse has always baffled me a little bit. At first it seems like sort of a statement that is made to taunt you. It doesn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling that’s for sure. At its core wisdom is practical skill for living. It is taking tried and true knowledge and applying it to real life. 

We are all going to encounter pressure at some point in our life. It could be financial, spiritual, physical, or emotional pressure. Other words Bible translators use for the word 'pressure' in this verse are: adversity, trouble, and crises. We don’t always know when we are going to encounter adversity or find ourselves in a crisis, but I can guarantee that in this life they will find us. 

I have found a couple of nuggets of wisdom hidden within this verse.

1) The Boy Scout Motto is “Be Prepared”. Preparation is usually not glamorous or fun, but it is needed when when facing adversity. Strength is not built in one day. Physical strength is built with hard work, commitment, and resistance. This same principle can be tied to many other aspects of our life. Maybe it’s building an emergency fund for a financial rainy day. It could be shedding some extra pounds at the gym before you have a health issue. Maybe it’s finding daily time in the Bible to know the promises of God to cling to when in trial. By nature I am not the most disciplined person, but as I get older I have learned that living a lifestyle of strength gathering provides for stable living. I remember years ago when I was going through a rough time as a new manager my boss gave me a nugget of wisdom. He said that as I grew the things that are hard for me now will be nothing for me to handle in the future. He also said that in the future there would be bigger trials to overcome. He was right....Strength builds upon strength.  

2) This verse also shows us that adversity or pressure is a true test of what is really inside of us. In my early twenties when I lived in Texas I was apart of a large and dynamic college ministry. I lived with Christian guys and basically my life revolved around this ministry and my walk with Christ. When I took my first career job in Portland, Oregon all the structure I had around me was gone and I was tested by trial. That trial came from loneliness, disillusionment, and temptation. I did not pass the test. I found out that without the external structure around me my faith was not as strong as I thought. Actually, those years of failure and trial have now led to a faith in God that has deep roots. Not that He has changed at all, but my level of trust in Him has grown. If you read 1 Peter you will learn that your faith will be tested but it is to prove it to be true gold. Some adversity is meant to make you stronger and sort of the gunk in your life. 

God does not desire for you to fail under pressure. He desires you to grow to be strong and healthy just like any good Father would. I don't love adversity, but I know that my heavenly Father is my strength and my strength builder.

It time to bulk up...you know whats coming. 

Is It the Will of God to Heal?

We live in a day in which God is moving through His church and equipping everyday believers to pray for the sick in Jesus’ name and see them healed. Can we really believe that it is the will of God for them to heal? I firmly believe the answer is yes. 

Sometimes I think that it can seem that the Bible talks about two different Gods. It can seem that the God of the Old Testament was angry and judgmental and the God in the New Testament is full of mercy and grace. The truth is that God does not have a dual nature. Regarding healing, the Old Testament is full of scriptures that show it was always God’s desire to heal. In Genesis 18 we see the Lord healed the bodies of Abraham and Sarah so they could conceive a son even though she was barren and they were well past the years of child bearing. Sarah had been barren all her life when God appears to this great patriarch, and through a supernatural miracle of healing Isaac is born. Isaac and Rebecca also had a son born because of a supernatural intervention. From Abraham and Isaac’s lineage we trace the ancestry of Jesus’ family line. 

When God spoke to the Israelites after he delivered them out of Egypt and He showed His desire and nature to heal when giving the law. Listen to the promise of God in scripture: “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” (Exodus 15:26). Randy Clark says regarding this scripture in Exodus that it is “God’s heart to heal” and that “This is evident from His self-revelation to Moses”. The great king and psalmist David described the benefits of God by stating “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases”. The God we read about in the Old Testament is a God who desires to heal. 

To understand the nature and will of God we need to look at Jesus and his life here on earth. I think the most convincing evidence that God is a God of healing is found in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. His ministry was marked by supernatural healing. In the gospel of John, Jesus makes an incredible statement to one of his disciples when he says “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. (John14:9 ESV) The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is “exact representation of His nature”. (Hebrews 1:3 NASB) One of the names attributed to Jesus is Emmanuel, which means God with us. The assignment of Jesus was “not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) The Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus are equal with each other and they will not do something that contradicts the other. So if we examine the ministry of Jesus here on earth we can clearly see how God desires to minister to humankind. Bill Johnson states that “Jesus came to reveal the will of the Father”. If we need an answer to the question “Is it God’s will to heal?”, then we need to look at the life and ministry of Jesus. 

Randy Clark states that “Jesus healed because he always did what his Father commanded him to do”.  At the onset of Jesus’ public ministry he stands up in the synagogue and declares his personal mission statement while reading from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus declares of himself “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” He then immediately begins his public ministry by casting out demons and healing those who are sick. Jesus said that this was a sign of the Kingdom of God has come to earth. 

We can see Jesus furthering his ministry when he commissions the seventy two in the Gospel of Luke and says “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you,’” (Luke 10:9 ESV). This ministry commission to heal was not just for those believers in the New Testament but it is also for Christians today. Randy Clark states that “Healing is part of the great commission assigned now to all believers”. In the Great Commission Jesus states that those who believe “will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:18 NIV) Church history also testifies to this truth of God healing because for the last two thousand years many men and woman have seen God heal. The Catholic Church even has a sacrament of that involves anointing the sick and praying for healing. 

I think that the desire of God to heal is also revealed when we look at the Greek word SOZO. This word is translated “save” in the New Testament. When looking at the context in which this word is used in scriptures it includes the forgiveness of sins, healing, and deliverance.  In our western culture we have a tendency to think the word “saved” means only the forgiveness of sins. But if we look at the ministry of Jesus and see that He touched the whole person, and brought restoration and healing, it helps us fully understand that salvation is much more comprehensive. Jesus died for us to be restored to our original relationship with God and walk in our original purpose. Part of this original purpose means wholeness of life in our earthly bodies. God’s love is clearly displayed when he brings physical healing. This act of kindness is a great aid when telling people the truth of a loving God and it also brings glory to the Father. 

It is the desire God is to heal and restore. When he does these things he is revealing His very nature to a world that desperately needs it. Healing is a practical expression of the Love of God. I am very thankful that it is the will of God to heal and it is my prayer that we understand and live this truth in its entirety. 

Gods Generals

(This Blog Post in a response to one essay question for school for the book Gods Generals by Robert Liardon.)

I actually feel like I gained several insights while reading God’s Generals (Why They Succeeded and Why some Failed) by Roberts Liardon. I must say that this is a book that I will read again and it was very hard to put it down. I absolutely love reading about great men and woman of God in history. It always makes me want to pursue God and the calling on my life and to press in to see the “more” that God has for me.

Growing up my father used to say “God hits some pretty good licks, with crooked sticks”. What this means is that God can use people who are not perfect, but are just yielded to Him. Remember, the apostle Peter denied Jesus in his greatest time of need. Jesus repaid that betrayal by establishing Peter as the foundation of the New Testament church. It is always His grace and mercy that moves us to do things that are beyond our own natural ability. I think those He uses in extraordinary ways are typically marked with a desperation and hunger for God to move. They also seem to have an innate passion and love for God developed in their life. There are other times when life or the enemy has placed them in circumstances that make them look to God for supernatural breakthrough. Sometimes, God can just choose people in His sovereignty because He chooses to do so. Yes, we have freewill, but just go and ask the apostle Paul about His experience with a supernatural God that blinded him of the road to Damascus. God is not a tame lion (as C.S. Lewis said) He is still a sovereign God.

The first lesson I learned from this book is that almost all of these mighty men and woman really knew the promise of God in scripture. They believed the word of God that He still desires to heal and work  supernaturally. They took a hold of a promise from God and held on to it until they saw it released into the natural. I have good news for you. The God of the New Testament is still a supernatural God. Salvation is a spiritual supernatural event and transaction. It is the same with miracles and signs & wonders.   Most of us believe God is a supernatural God, but not all of us are “comfortable” with how supernatural He still is. When my wife and I went to India in 2007 and prayed for a girl who was deaf and mute... God healed her. She heard and spoke in front of a crowd of about a fifty people. We heard the gasp that went through the crowd around us as she spoke and we knew that God is still doing His stuff today on earth. In 1 Peter verse 4 it states that “he (God) has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature”. God’s nature is to restore and heal. Before Jesus was a minister he was a carpenter. His job was to make something new out of something that was yet unformed or seen. He would also repair things that were broken. When Jesus went into public ministry He did the same things. We are called to live as Jesus did as his representatives here on earth.  

The second lesson I learned from this book is something the author pointed out several times. We need to identify and operate in the gifting that God has placed upon us and discern the season that God has us in. Many of these woman and men of God had amazing gifting and supernatural ability on their life but when they tried to venture out of that arena it did not go well for them. Some of these folk’s lives ended in dishonor because they strayed so far from the original calling and mission. Alexander Dowie tried to build a Christian city called Zion which ended in financial scandal. Many believe his true calling and anointing was for the city of Chicago. William Brahman was used mightily of God, but his life ended in disgrace teaching things that were contrary to the truth of the Word of God. Brahman had a prophetic calling but he was not a teacher. When he insisted on being a teacher, even though others warned him, his teaching ended in serious doctrinal heresy. I personally believe that God can gift us with different things as our live changes. It is vital that we understand what God is saying to us and discern what season we are in. If you are called to be a worshiper it may not work out too well if you are convinced you are a teacher. Grace is released through us as we walk in our anointed calling.  

The last lesson I learned in this book ties in closely with the second lesson. A lot of times God will put strategic relationships in our lives to help us navigate the road God has us on. Sometimes Gods wisdom for us can look like a friend or ministry partner in our life. Others see things in us and know things that we need to keep us balanced and on the right path. In the book of Proverbs wisdom is marked by being teachable, correctable, and having many advisors. We need to be willing to hear God speak to us through others. I have friends in my life right now that have walked with God for many years and know the Bible much better than I do. We are made for relationship and not be an island. We need others to help guide us into truth and hold up a mirror to our lives and help us see our faults. This will keep us on the right track and help us be spiritually healthy. We need the each other to walk in wholeness. When someone is gifted by a supernatural gifting (and the supernatural is not too common in this day and age) we tend to get enamored by their gifting. The scripture is clear that we are to judge a tree by its fruit. Just because someone has a supernatural calling and gifting on their life doesn’t mean that God endorses everything they say and do. Remember, the supernatural is released by God’s grace and not our own works. Yes, we can position and equip ourselves to see supernatural breakthrough with more consistency, but it is still by Gods grace alone.  I love His Grace…. His healing, delivering, restoring, and supernatural grace.

This is a great book and I cannot recommend it more highly. It does not shy away from the amazing events and miracles or the ugly truth and controversy in some of these men and woman’s life. If I keep it real, my own walk with God has not been so pretty. I had a remarkable salvation experience and was used by God in ministry. I then turned my back and got myself wrapped up in substance abuse and addiction. In His grace he has restored me and still has the same calling on my life. My own life story would not be a clean and pretty book, but I think it would show just how much mercy and grace my Jesus has had on me. He does not show favoritism, and he can show you the same kind of mercy and grace that he had on all these mighty woman and men of God. We should all be inspired to be used of God to see His supernatural reality invade our natural reality. It brings Him honor and glory. I love what Randy Clark says: “Lord, let my life be a coin in your pocket to spend as You will”. These mighty men and woman of God let Him spend their lives and I desire to walk in the same things. Amen. 

In the Drivers Seat

Well look at that. I came across my old blog today and realized that I haven't posted since 2008. Had to blow off some cobwebs and then decided to fire this bad boy up again. Time to get back in the DRIVERS SEAT. Speaking of the drivers seat it kind of makes me think of a crutch.....let me explain.

Have you ever heard the old cliche' of God being your crutch. I have....I had a work associate years ago say I needed God as a crutch... and then he immediately apologized because he thought he offended me. He didn't. The truth of the matter is that the more I walk in this journey with God the more I discover a simple truth. Simplicity. A mentor of mine tells me the more he grows and matures in God, the simpler things become. It seems maturity in this relationship with God goes in cycles where I keep going back to the basics.... When you come back to the basics there is a new discovery and some beautiful hidden truth that was there before, but lay undiscovered. There was a book once written called Freedom of Simplicity and that sounds about right. Which takes these thoughts full circle again to talk about the crutch.

The older I get and the more I walk on knowing the Sovereign One - Jesus. The more I realize that I don't need Him as a crutch....and more important He doesn't want you to use Him as a crutch. When you use a crutch you are using it as a tool to facilitate movement with your remaining strength. There is still some of you involved (Yea...you see where I am going) Remember the other name of Jesus that always pops up around Christmas time? Emmanuel - which means God with Us. Amazing. He is with us and doesn't want us to use him as a crutch. He said the WORK that you have to do is BELIEVE. Do you know the Amplified Translation says in Galatians 2:16?

....through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

Absolute reliance is what I we are asked to have in our faith. In the big things (money, relationships, job, future, health issues, life and death) and the small things (good nights sleep, typing a blog post, buying a gift). These are fundamental truths that we will continually learn till the day we die. I think the point is to let our level of trust to get to the place where we allow Him to take the Drivers Seat. Forget the crutch.

I was praying for a person one time and they were trying so hard to get all of their ambitions done and goals moving forward towards completion. I felt God was saying to her that He was asking her to get out of the drivers seat and sit in the back and let Him drive... and that's not easy...especially when we are wired to want to call the shots.

I don't need a crutch....thank you very much. I need a wheelbarrow with me in it and Jesus pushing me along. Total trust, Him calling the shots, driving the car, taking me to the other side ..... and I am not there yet, but I am ready for the freedom that comes with trusting instead of worrying. How about you? You don't need no stinking crutch

Sucker...

A few years ago I found my life just plain broken. Broken...in some Christian circles is a word that is thrown around quite a bit. When broken hit me.....it took me out cold. Dust in the teeth of a broken man tastes very bitter... but I thank God for it.


At some point in Tucson I found my identity as an alcohol soaked musician- pot head. But what does that look like? I made good money and I had obtained a certain level of success in my career. Had plenty of friends.....heck even had a good business sense about me. I could sell drugs to you for allot more than I paid for them. SUCKER... It was at this point at my life I kept hearing the phrase " Mike...you are seriously cool". I mean I wish I could make that up...but really...ALL THE TIME. I heard this for about half a year. I guess I had a good image...half my arm tattooed with a dread locked Jesus... and when you talk slow all the time because your so high....it creates a great image. Fantastic.


At some point in 2005 I remember thinking to myself (as I was taking a shower....very stoned)..."Wow, remember when I used to be a hardcore Christian...what a trip" I mean I used to be in leadership for crying out loud. I had preached in churches and even in the streets of Europe. Now it seriously seemed like an entire past life. Some vague memory that I could attribute to living in a certain town with a certain culture. But God is faithful even when we are not.


Well....how can I say this. He..and I mean God... kind of allowed my mind to slip out of place a bit. Like a nervous breakdown. It happened when I was preparing a report for a college class I was taking to continue my education. Just a little heads up. Its not as easy to write reports when you cant stop drinking and getting high. I mean its not impossible...I had already done it before and made an "A". I was the "cool" guy after all. But there it happened. In the middle of trying to put some thoughts together, God just reached down and slightly dialed the tweak button.....and my mind just froze. My reaction was less than broken in the first few moments. I remember thrashing my computer, followed by bouncing my cell phone off the ground, and climaxed by kicking the ---- out of whatever I could find. Then I fell to the ground weeping. God....help me...freaking help me....freaking help me.....


Well he did. He got my attention and took me on a journey of healing that was unreal. There were times when I would sit on the floor of the room and have my life play like a movie in front of me....and God would just talk to me about some things of my past. He helped me understand my disillusionment with Church and some hurts that I had experienced. All this Supernatural stuff started colliding with my life. For several months I just knew things about people and situations that no one had told me. It was weird. I had things show up in my house and try to choke me out in the middle of being asleep. Seriously weird. Which could leave you thinking right now...why are you sharing this? Because.... as I have been typing this I have been listening to worship music... and Gods real substantial presence has just filled my room. I am seriously in Love with Him. Not only has He restored me....He has blessed me far beyond I could have ever imagined. Blessed me with a family....blessed me in my job.....blessed us financially....blessed us with so many sold out Jesus friends in our life who are not religious, but carry a weight in the Spirit. Restoration! No! Lavish...lavish...Goodness.


He loves you man. Daughter... He loves you. He loved me in my shame and has freed and healed me to the point where I could really care less of what you think of me when you read this. You little SUCKER... loved so much by God.


I pray that if His presence has gone far from your life.... that the Lord would let it rest on you....God bless them and love them....I bless them...Father may you always be found faithful...even when we have not.....Thanks for your reading time