What I have learned in Acts 3

God just used Peter and John to heal a man that was crippled since birth. The man had been sitting at that gate for years, potentially. In fact, it is not much of a stretch to say that Jesus may have walked by this guy a number of times during his ministry. But here we have these two disciples full of the Holy Spirit, and ready to live out their faith and launch the early church, and they happen upon this guy asking for money…. Again.

So as the Holy Spirit prompted him, Peter grabs the man by the hand and says, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” No bells. No whistles. No church service. No healing ministry. Just get up and walk. The guy gets up and, in an instant, his muscles were like they have worked his whole life. He was jumping all over the temple courtyard. I can’t even walk when my leg falls asleep, and here is this dude jumping all over the place after having his legs asleep for 30 years!!!

Naturally, everyone around was amazed. They have seen this guy for years, and now all of a sudden, he is walking. A true miracle!!

But Peter says to them, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you?” It was as if this was the normal thing to take place, and to Peter it was. Peter knew things that the other people did not, that this is commonplace with God.

But this is NOT commonplace in so many of our lives as Christians. If something were to take place similar to this story in our churches, would we just be floored? Or would we expect it? I think we need to raise our level of faith and our level of expectation, so that WHEN this type of thing happens in our life, we can just respond as Peter did.

P.S. This story happened OUTSIDE the temple. Miracles do not have to happen in the church building!!! In fact they should RARELY happen in the church building. The people of the church should be taking this to the streets and then bringing the people and the testimonies into the church!

The Calling

There are many times in life where I have heard God calling me to accomplish something. Not audibly, but I just knew that I knew that I knew that it was God. He called me into ministry. He called me to start a midweek program for the youth at our church. He called me to move and leave so many things that I loved, behind.

There have also been times in life where I haven’t heard God. Either He wasn’t speaking, or I wasn’t listening, but I heard nothing. A season just like that recently ended in my life and I have heard God again. What a refreshing voice to hear. It rejuvenated me and gave me vision and dreams again, and excited me for the future and what it holds.

It reminds me a bit of the disciples. They watched Jesus ascend into heaven with His parting words, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, but also in Judea and Samaria, and in the uttermost parts of the earth.” Jesus left them, speaking to them and giving them a vision to run with. I can imagine the 11 men sitting down and formulating a game plan, and dividing themselves into groups that went out. If they were anything like I am, they were ready to go right then and there. Sure it was an overwhelming task, and they may not have felt qualified to do it, but they had a direct assignment from God to accomplish!

I feel that way a bit. I have a direct assignment from God to accomplish, that is overwhelming and a bit scary, and I would love to start cracking on it today. But just before Jesus gave the disciples that assignment, He gave them another: wait. He was sending them a helper, and they needed to wait. And that is where I am. Waiting. Waiting for my Helper. Not only that, but I need to finish this assignment I am on first. But while I am doing that, I am planning and preparing for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and beyond.

Don’t jump the gun. Don’t play the role of God. Finish one assignment before diving too deep into the next one. This assignment qualifies you for the next assignment.

Doing the RIGHT things in ministry

The life of a pastor, and especially the volunteer in ministry can be very, very busy. There is your family, your job, your personal time with God, church, meetings, the ministry you serve in, the lunch appointments, the one-on-one meetings, counseling, mentoring, discipleship, planning, more meetings, phone calls, administration, visitations, and still, more meetings. I have tried to fit 100 hours into a 40-hour workweek, and it doesn’t seem to ever work out. Something always gets short-changed.

So in those instances, what is your default short-change? I know for me, it is the things that I do best or come the easiest to me that usually get the least amount of attention. I figure that I can always just throw together a sermon, or just text message someone rather than spend the necessary time studying or really connecting one-on-one with someone that really needs it. I have found out that the things that are usually the first to suffer are the things that are the most important, but are also the things that I enjoy the most.

I try to spend time outside of my gifting far too much. I am not blessed with great administrative skills. So my attempts at being administrative in certain areas normally take me twice the amount of time they should take, and probably even more than that for someone who has the gift of administration. So I end up spending far too much time outside of my gifting, and that takes away from the things that I really enjoy doing. Consequently, I can end up stressed out and irritated.

So the key is to surround yourself with people who aren’t like you! Get people into your circle that can do what you can’t do well. Delegate! Spend your time chasing things that matter and that which God wants you to do. God wants you to do what He has gifted you to do. He would not have given you the gift had He not wanted to use it.

Plan your week, spend your time in the right places, and delegate the rest!

...But I am called to do something else!!!!

10+ years ago I graduated from college with a degree in Youth Ministry (Yes, it is a real degree). I had felt the call of God on my life to pursue full-time ministry, and was well on my way to that, or so I thought.

Resume after resume was sent out, only to receive rejection after rejection. In fact, I think I had more rejections than I had actual resumes sent. It was a very disheartening process and I allowed it too much control in my life, and I eventually left church altogether as a result. But just because I left the church did not mean that I was not called to ministry anymore. The flame was still there, although its intensity was not great.

I heard a quote once that went something like this, “Don’t ever give up on that which you can’t go a day without thinking about.” That is exactly what I had done. Given up on the very thing I knew that I was called to do. So I went to work a job in a very secular arena, and relegated myself to the fact that that was going to be my life. I am so glad that God doesn’t give up as quickly as I do. I would be well up the proverbial creek at this point if He had.

So long story short, I found a church, and the passion was reignited towards my calling. But now the issue was that I was in a job that I didn’t care much for, there was no job available at the church I was serving at, and my house payment needed to still be paid. I very quickly learned the principle of being faithful with little.

I started playing bass in the youth ministry. That led to playing guitar in both youth and main services. That led to leading worship for the youth service, which was probably the biggest stretch for me up until that point. Then that opened the door to preaching and leading a small group, then to leading an entire midweek service. After that 4-year process, the door finally opened to full-time paid ministry.

The process in rarely easy, and is never scripted the way we want it to be scripted, but it is always the best in the long run. God knows what He is doing. Have faith that God has called you, let faith turn into trust the God is taking care of it, and let trust pave the way for your destiny. If you are faithful with one, God gives you another. If you are faithful with that, then you get another, and on and on goes the cycle. If you cannot be trusted with one, you will circle the mountain endlessly, and the frustration will most certainly build to unbearable heights. BE FAITHFUL RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!!!!!

As we look back on our lives and how we ended up where we are, our stories will all be different, but principles that we learn in the process will be quite similar. We will be able to relate with those people that are in the middle or early stages of the process, and offer words of encouragement or advice. God will use you at any stage that you are at in the process if you remain faithful!